In vitro activity of ME1401, a new antifungal agent.

The in vitro antifungal activity of ME1401, a potential topical antifungal agent, was compared with that of haloprogin, clotrimazole, miconazole, tolnaftate, and ciclopirox olamine by using an agar dilution procedure. ME1401 showed a broad antifungal spectrum and inhibited all of the 428 strains of 52 species of pathogenic yeasts and filamentous fungi tested at concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 12.5 micrograms/ml. In general, the activity of ME1401 was comparable or superior to that of clotrimazole and was greater than that of haloprogin and the other reference drugs under the conditions used. Only tolnaftate was superior to ME1401 in its activity against clinical isolates of Trichophyton rubrum. ME1401 showed no cross-resistance with any of the reference drugs and exhibited potent fungicidal activity.