A safe and effective treatment for molluscum contagiosum (MC) still represents an unmet need.

VP-102 is a proprietary drug-delivery device combination containing cantharidin 0.7% [w/v] in a film-forming topical solution designed to overcome compounded cantharidin formulation limitations and application concerns.

SB206 is a new nitric oxide (NO)-releasing topical drug consisting of a gel containing berdazimer sodium and a carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogel that acts as a proton donor.

Robust phase III trials are available for both drugs, showing complete clearance in 50% of patients treated with VP-102 and 32% of patients treated with SB206, with mild to moderate local skin reactions.

It is still unclear whether VP-102 and SB206 are superior or not in terms of efficacy to the currently adopted MC treatments as in the clinical trials they were compared with vehicle.

Based on good results in terms of safety and efficacy, VP-102 and SB2016 have the potential to be the first FDA-approved MC therapies.