3. 2
Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used specifically for
treating viral infections rather than bacterial ones. Most antivirals are
used for specific viral infections, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is
effective against a wide range of viruses. Most antivirals are considered
relatively harmless to the host, and therefore can be used
to treat infections.
ANTI-VIRAL DRUGS
16. HISTORY OF ANTIVIRAL DRUGS
Acyclovir was seen as the start of a new era in antiviral therapy, as it is extremely selective
and low in cytotoxicity.
Since discovery in mid 1970s, it has been used as an effective drug for the treatment of
infections caused by most known species of the herpes virus family, including herpes simplex and
varicella zoster viruses.
Nucleosides isolated from a Caribbean sponge, Cryptotethya crypta, were the basis for the
synthesis of acyclovir.
It was codiscovered by Howard Schaeffer following his work with Robert Vince, S. Bittner
and S. Gurwara on the adenosine analog acycloadenosine which showed promising antiviral activity.
Later, Schaeffer joined Burroughs Wellcome and continued the development of acyclovir
with pharmacologist Gertrude B. Elion. A U.S. patent on acyclovir listing Schaeffer as inventor was
issued in 1979.
Elion was awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize in Medicine, partly for the development of
acyclovir.
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25. REFERENCES
1. Aciclovir :Aciclovir is the most widely used agent at present, and
is prescribed for the treatment of herpes simplex and herpes zoster.
From: Medical Microbiology (Eighteenth Edition), 2012
2. Acyclovir chemical kinetics with the discovery and identification
of newly reported degradants and degradation pathways involving
formaldehyde as a degradant and reactant intermediate
International Journal of Pharmaceutics
Volume 535, Issues 1–2, 15 January 2018, Pages 172-179
3. Antiviral agents presentation by NISHU SINGLA ASSISTANT
PROFESSOR DEPT. Of pharmaceutical chemistry ISF College of
Pharmacy.
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiviral_drug
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