Fluorescein Corneal Staining indicates the damage to the corneal epithelium (corneal epitheliopathy). Punctate corneal staining with fluorescein was evaluated and graded according to the National Eye Institute (NEI) grading method. The cornea was divided into 5 regions: central, superior, inferior, nasal and temporal. Each of these 5 regions was graded from scores 0 to 3, where 0 indicated no staining (absent) and 3 maximal staining (severe damage). The total score was the sum of all these regions, ranged from 0 (absence of corneal epitheliopathy) to 15 (severe corneal epitheliopathy).

OSDI is a 12-item questionnaire developed to assess severity of DED. There are 3 question types: "Have you experienced any of following (light sensitivity, eye feel gritty, sore eyes, blurred vision, and poor vision) during last week?"(items 1-5); "Have problems with your eyes limited you in performing any of following (reading, driving at night, working with computer, and watching TV) during last week?" (items 6-9); and "Have your eyes felt uncomfortable in any of following situations (windy, low humidity, air conditioned) during the last week?" (items 10-12). Response of each of these questions were graded on a scale (that relate to the frequency of ocular surface disease effects) of 0 (none of the time) to 4 (all of the time).Total OSDI score was calculated using following formula: OSDI=(\[sum of scores for all questions answered\] × 100)/(\[total number of questions answered\] \* 4). Total OSDI score ranged from 0 to 100, with higher scores representing greater disability.

An AE was defined as any untoward medical occurrence in a participant who received study drug without regard to possibility of causal relationship. Serious AEs were defined as death, a life-threatening AE, inpatient hospitalization or prolongation of existing hospitalization, persistent or significant disability or incapacity, a congenital anomaly or birth defect, or an important medical event that jeopardized participant and required medical intervention to prevent 1 of the outcomes listed in this definition. A summary of other non-serious AEs and all serious AEs, regardless of causality is located in Reported AE section.

Participants scored their degree of comfort with their assigned study drug on a 4-point scale (0-3 units) within 5 minutes after instillation of study drug. Comfort grade 0 indicated comfortable, discomfort absent; 1 indicated generally comfortable, mild discomfort; 2 indicated some discomfort but tolerable, moderate discomfort; 3 indicated severely uncomfortable or intolerable. The mean global ocular comfort grade was reported.