Onychomycosis treatment methods
AssigneeHallux, Inc.
InventorsRobert L. Orr, Christopher Ronald Agee, Thomas Mark Tremblay
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for treating onychomycosis uses a treatment protocol that atraumatically and subungually administers an antifungal agent dissolved in a liquid pharmaceutical composition to a subungual space to so achieve a minimum inhibitory concentration of the antifungal agent with respect to a dermatophyte in the subungual space. The treatment protocol typically includes a series of administrations, typically at least 4 weeks spaced apart, which achieves cure rates well above 70% after no more than 12 months of administration.
Claims19
A method of treating onychomycosis, comprising:
- using a treatment protocol to subungually and atraumatically administer an antifungal agent in a liquid pharmaceutical composition;
- wherein each administration generates at least in a subungual space a minimum inhibitory concentration of the antifungal agent with respect to a dermatophyte in the subungual space;
- wherein the subungual space is a pre-existing void space between a nail bed and a nail plate that is accessible from a location outside a nail organ without damage to or separation of the nail plate and the nail bed;
- wherein the treatment protocol comprises a plurality of subungual administrations that achieves a cure rate of at least 70% after no more than 12 months;
- and
- wherein the pharmaceutical composition has a viscosity that enables penetration of the pharmaceutical composition through a polysaccharide matrix produced by a fungal mass in the subungual space.
A method of treating onychomycosis, comprising:
- subungually and sequentially administering a plurality of doses of an antifungal agent in a liquid pharmaceutical composition;
- wherein each of the doses generates at least in a subungual space a minimum inhibitory concentration of the antifungal agent with respect to a dermatophyte in the subungual space;
- wherein the subungual space is a pre-existing void space between a nail bed and a nail plate that is accessible from a location outside a nail organ without damage to or separation of the nail plate and the nail bed;
- wherein the plurality of doses eradicate at least 90% of the dermatophyte in the subungual space;
- and
- wherein the pharmaceutical composition has a viscosity that enables penetration of the pharmaceutical composition through a polysaccharide matrix produced by a fungal mass in the subungual space.
A method of treating onychomycosis, comprising:
- subungually administering multiple doses of an antifungal agent in a liquid pharmaceutical composition to a subungual space, wherein the antifungal agent in the pharmaceutical composition has a concentration of at least 20 wt %;
- wherein the subungual space is a pre-existing void space between a nail bed and a nail plate that is accessible from a location outside a nail organ without damage to or separation of the nail plate and the nail bed;
- wherein the antifungal agent has a concentration in the pharmaceutical composition that extends fungicidal action of the antifungal agent into a treatment space that extends beyond the subungual space;
- and
- wherein the pharmaceutical composition has a viscosity that enables penetration of the pharmaceutical composition through a polysaccharide matrix produced by a fungal mass in the subungual space.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.