Patent ID: 8716341

Claim:
A method for treating acne afflicting a subject, said method comprising topically applying once daily for a period of 12 weeks onto said subject's skin, an effective amount of a pharmaceutical composition, which comprises an amount of from 0.02% to 0.04% by weight of adapalene or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and which additionally comprises at least one gelling agent selected from the group consisting of carbomers, polysaccharides, magnesium aluminum silicates, acrylic polymers coupled to hydrophobic chains, modified starches, polyacrylamides, copolymers of acrylamide and of sodium acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonate, acrylate/C10-C30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymers and cellulose gelling agents, formulated into a topically applicable, pharmaceutically acceptable carrier therefor, wherein said adapalene or salt thereof is the only active anti-acne agent in the composition and applied in the method, wherein said adapalene or salt thereof is the only agent for lessening irritation in the composition and applied in the method, wherein said amount of adapalene or salt thereof is sufficient to provide therapeutic effectiveness to said method of applying said composition comparable to that of a method of topically applying once daily a composition comprising 0.1% by weight of adapalene or salt thereof while being comparable or superior in terms of lessening irritation, and wherein comparable therapeutic effectiveness is shown by a reduction in total lesion counts, in inflammatory lesion counts, or in non-inflammatory lesion counts, in a group of such subjects achieved by said method of applying said composition after 12 weeks of treatment comparable to the reduction in total lesion counts, in inflammatory lesion counts or in non-inflammatory lesion counts, respectively, achieved by a method of topically applying once daily a composition comprising 0.1% by weight of adapalene after 12 weeks of treatment.