Inhibitors of melanogenesis: a patent review (2009 – 2014)

Although a huge number of melanogenesis inhibitors have been reported, the future studies should be focused towards the identification of new inhibitors with a clear mechanism. The next breakthrough in the field therefore, is likely to come from the detailed structure-activity relationship studies of thioureas with improved therapeutic profiles. Targeting other parameters such as number or size of melanosomes, maturation of melanosomes and expression of melanogenic enzymes may give the best results to overcome toxicity and other formulation problems.