[In vitro antifungal activity of omoconazole nitrate, a new imidazole antimycotic]

In vitro antifungal activities of omoconazole nitrate (OMZ), a new topical imidazole antifungal agent, were studied against 364 strains of 22 genera and 47 species of stock cultures of a wide range of medically important fungi. The test was carried out using the agar dilution method with bifonazole (BFZ) as the reference drug. OMZ exhibited a broad spectrum of antifungal activities. Most of yeasts including Malassezia, dimorphic fungi, non-pigmented hyphomycetes and dermatophytes were almost equally or more greatly susceptible to OMZ than to BFZ, although the MIC values of these drugs against Candida and probably some other fungi were influenced differently by testing media. Comparable susceptibility to OMZ were observed for fresh clinical isolates of dermatophytes and Candida albicans. OMZ was also active against Malassezia. These results have encouraged us to proceed in vivo studies using animal models of cutaneous mycoses.