accordingly i have discovered that subjects infected with herpes simplex virus type - 1 ( hsv - 1 ) and herpes simplex virus type - 2 ( hsv - 2 ) may be therapeutically treated to decrease the severity and duration of the herpes labialis by administering an anti - hsv - 1 and hsv - 2 effective amount of the compound ctc - 96 to a subject infected with the disease . the compound may be administered topically , intramuscularly or orally . the drug is very active against hsv - 1 and hsv - 2 in the micromolar range of concentrations , particularly for its dermal manifestations . it prevents hsv - 1 and hsv - 2 penetration into cells and also cell - cell transmission of the virus ( 14 ). it thus reduces viral yields and the severity of oro - facial herpes labialis and considerably accelerates the cure of the disease . moreover , since the drug has a unique mode of action in binding to imidazole groups of histidines in proteins and does not involve dna synthesis , it will act against current and emerging strains of hsv - 1 and hsv - 2 which are drug resistant to the known anti - viral drugs , e . g ., acyclovir , penciclovir , cidofovir , ganciclovir and idoxuridine . in addition , the drug reduces inflammatory reactions to the virus infection and thus lowers or eliminates the severity of the symptoms . because hsv - 1 propagates in the epidermis of the skin , ctc - 96 is a valuable and safe drug in a topical formulation for cutaneous viral infections . this compound was approved by fda for phase 2 studies in human eyes . the drug has a unique mode of action in that it inactivates certain proteins by binding to the imidazole of specific histidines ( 10 ) and possesses activity due to the superoxide scavenging capacity of the compound ( 11 ) in addition to anti - viral efficacy . it has both an anti - microbial activity and a therapeutic effect on hsv - 1 . because of its unique mode of action the drug is effective against drug - resistant strains of hsv - 1 which have become a problem in the control of the virus . the percutaneous absorption of doxovir - l ® ( ctc - 96 ) was evaluated by mixing ctc - 96 at two concentrations ( 10 mg / g and 1 mg / g ) to homogeneity with a dermal ointment formulation ( petrolatum 10 % by weight , camphor 0 . 92 % by weight , menthol 0 . 5 % by weight , methyl salicylate 0 . 26 % by weight , eucalyptus oil 0 . 30 % by weight ) and was determined in vitro , using the human cadaver skin model using the finite dose technique and franz diffusion cells ( 12 ; 13 ). placebo consisted of the drug formulation without drug . the amount of dermal ointment that is applied at each treatment was determined is shown in the following table ( table 1 ): these studies indicate penetration of ctc - 96 only into the epidermis with exceptionally low dermal and thus possible systemic penetration ( based on the dermal and receptor solution data ). because hsv - 1 propagates in the epidermis of the skin ctc - 96 is a valuable and safe topical formulation for cutaneous viral infections . the ctc - 96 exhibits excellent in vitro stability and efficacy in dermal formulation as shown by the following ( table 4 & amp ; table 5 ): ctc - 96 was mixed to homogeneity with a dermal ointment formulation ( petrolatum 10 % by weight , camphor 0 . 92 % by weight , menthol 0 . 5 % by weight , methyl salicylate 0 . 26 % by weight , eucalyptus oil 0 . 30 % by weight ). table 5 recovery of ctc - 96 anti - viral activity from ctc - 96 incubated in dermal ointment formulation % inhibition * incubation 4 ° c . 40 ° c . time mean ± sd mean ± sd 0 91 . 8 ± 1 . 7 88 . 8 ± 2 . 7 3 mo 91 . 5 ± 0 . 5 90 . 1 ± 0 . 8 6 mo 91 . 5 ± 3 . 4 92 . 1 ± 1 . 0 placebo 9 . 9 ± 11 . 0 − 10 . 3 ± 3 . 4 * ctc - 96 extracted from dermal ointment formulation was diluted to 2 . 5 μg / ml and assayed for antiviral activity . results are presented as % inhibition ± standard deviation . 1 . smith , j . s . and robinson , n . j . ( 2002 ): age - specific prevalence of infection with herpes simplex virus types 2 and 1 : a global review . j . infect . dis ., 186 suppl 1 : s3 - 28 . 2 . crumpacker , c . s . and guelic , r . m . ( 1999 ): herpes simplex . in : fitzpatrick &# 39 ; s dematology in general medicine , edited by i . m . e . a . freedberg , pp . 2414 - 2426 . mcgraw - hill , inc ., new york . 3 . spruance , s . l ., overall , j . c ., jr ., kern , e . r ., krueger , g . g ., pliam , v ., and miller , w . ( 1977 ): the natural history of recurrent herpes simplex labialis : implications for antiviral therapy . n . engl . j med ., 297 : 69 - 75 . 4 . pope , l . e ., marcelletti , j . f ., katz , l . r ., lin , j . y ., katz , d . h ., parish , m . l ., and spear , p . g . ( 1998 ): the anti - herpes simplex virus activity of n - docosanol includes inhibition of the viral entry process . antiviral res , 40 : 85 - 94 . 5 . mckeough , m . b . and spruance , s . l . ( 2001 ): comparison of new topical treatments for herpes labialis : efficacy of penciclovir cream , acyclovir cream , and n - docosanol cream against experimental cutaneous herpes simplex virus type 1 infection . arch . dermatol ., 137 : 1153 - 1158 . 6 . guidance for industry . otc treatment of herpes labialis with antiviral agents . us department of health and human services , fda , cder ; march 2000 . available at : www . fda . gov / cder / guidance / 3571dft . pdf . 2000 . ( generic ) ref type : data file 7 . femiano , f ., gombos , f ., and scully , c . ( 2001 ): recurrent herpes labialis : efficacy of topical therapy with penciclovir compared with acyclovir ( aciclovir ). oral dis ., 7 : 31 - 33 . 8 . anonymous ( 1997 ): topical penciclovir for herpes labialis . med . lett . drugs ther ., 39 : 57 - 58 . 9 . jensen , l . a ., hoehns , j . d ., and squires , c . l . ( 2004 ): oral antivirals for the acute treatment of recurrent herpes labialis . ann . pharmacother ., 38 : 705 - 709 . 10 . louie , a . y . and meade , t . j . ( 1998 ): a cobalt complex that selectively disrupts the structure and function of zinc fingers . proc . natl . acad . sci u . s . a ., 95 : 6663 - 6668 . 11 . wooley , p . h . and whalen , j . d . ( 1992 ): the influence of superoxide scavenging compound ctc 23 on type ii collagen - induced arthritis in mice . agents actions , 35 : 273 - 279 . 12 . franz , t . ( 1978 ): the finite dose technique as a valid in vitro model for the study of percutaneous absorption in man . in : skin : drug application and evaluation of environmental hazards , current problems in dermatology , edited by g . simon , et al , pp . 5868s . karger , 13 . franz , t . ( 1975 ): percutaneous absorption : on the relevance of in vitro data . j invest dermatol ., 64 : 190 - 195 . 14 . schwartz , j . a ., lium , e . k ., and silverstein , s . j . ( 2001 ): herpes simplex virus type 1 entry is inhibited by the cobalt chelate complex ctc - 96 . j . virol ., 75 : 4117 - 4128 .