What do we have that is new in antifungal peptides? A patent review.

ABSTRACT

Drugs used to fight fungal infections may cause toxic or adverse drug interactions. For this reason, there is an increase in the development of natural, semisynthetic and synthetic antifungal peptides. This study aimed to perform a patent review to identify the advances in peptides to treat fungal infections. In a preliminary assessment, 597 patents were identified from the database. Then, duplicated patents (62) and those with titles in disagreement with the scope of this review (196) were excluded. Then, six patents were not in English or Spanish. Following the screening, 288 patents were outside the focus of this review, according to their abstract and description. The final selection covered 45 patents.

Currently, medications used to treat fungal infections may interact negatively with other drugs or be hazardous to the host. Scientists have been looking for novel, safe and efficient antifungal drugs since the enhancement of fungal resistance. Antimicrobial peptides, as opposed to traditional antibiotics, offer a variety of antibacterial activity against bacteria, fungi, parasites, viruses and cancer cells. The production of isolated natural, semisynthetic and synthetic antifungal peptides has increased. As a result, patents are a reliable and up-to-date source of innovation. As a result, their content analysis provides crucial information for identifying trends in new medications and targeted treatment plans.