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Antiviral Nucleoside Inhibitors

Antiviral Nucleoside Inhibitors

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Viral Mutations

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Clinical Significance of Antibiotic Resistance

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Updated: Jun 21, 2026

An Affordable HIV-1 Drug Resistance Monitoring Method for Resource Limited Settings

An Affordable HIV-1 Drug Resistance Monitoring Method for Resource Limited Settings

Published on: March 30, 2014

A perspective on antiviral resistance.

Paul D Griffiths¹

¹Centre for Virology, UCL Medical School, Rowland Hill Street, London NW3 2PF, United Kingdom. p.griffiths@medsch.ucl.ac.uk

Journal of Clinical Virology : the Official Publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology

|July 21, 2009

Summary

Resistance to common anti-herpes simplex virus (HSV) drugs like aciclovir remains rare in healthy individuals. New antiviral drug development should prioritize potency and selectivity over activity against resistant strains.

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Implementation of In Vitro Drug Resistance Assays: Maximizing the Potential for Uncovering Clinically Relevant Resistance Mechanisms

Implementation of In Vitro Drug Resistance Assays: Maximizing the Potential for Uncovering Clinically Relevant Resistance Mechanisms

Published on: December 9, 2015

Area of Science:

Virology
Pharmacology
Infectious Diseases

Background:

Aciclovir and penciclovir, with their prodrugs valaciclovir and famciclovir, have been mainstays in anti-herpes simplex virus (HSV) therapy for over 25 years.
Clinically significant resistance to these nucleoside analogues in immunocompetent patients is exceptionally uncommon.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the mechanism of action of anti-HSV drugs.
To compare the favorable resistance profile of HSV drugs with those for cytomegalovirus (CMV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and influenza.
To discuss the implications for future antiviral drug development.

Main Methods:

Literature review focusing on the mechanisms of action of aciclovir, penciclovir, valaciclovir, and famciclovir.
Comparative analysis of resistance patterns across different viral infections and their treatments.
Synthesis of findings to inform antiviral drug discovery strategies.

Main Results:

Nucleoside analogue anti-HSV drugs exhibit a low rate of clinically relevant resistance in immunocompetent hosts.
Viral resistance is often a consequence of incomplete viral replication suppression.
The development of new antiviral agents should emphasize enhanced potency and selectivity.

Conclusions:

The sustained efficacy of current anti-HSV therapies is attributed to their mechanism and the rarity of resistance.
Future antiviral drug discovery should prioritize improving drug potency and selectivity to overcome viral replication challenges.
This approach is more beneficial than focusing solely on activity against pre-existing resistant viral strains.