Called hexadecyloxypropyl-cidofovir (HDP-CDV), the antiviral drug blocks the activity of variola, the virus that causes smallpox and orthopox viruses, halting their ability to replicate and spread.
Developed as part of a national research effort to design antiviral drugs for people infected by smallpox, HDP-CDV is not yet available for human use. The drug must still undergo additional testing in animals and safety trials in healthy people.
Announced today at the 15th International Conference on Antiviral Research in Prague, Czech Republic, HDP-CDV is a potent derivative of an existing compound, cidofovir, which inhibits smallpox virus replication. However, cidofovir must be administered intravenously, thus limiting its fast application in the event of a bioterrorism attack or widespread epidemic.
Found to be 100 times more potent then cidofovir, which is not readily taken up by cells, HDP-CDV is a modified cidofovir that exploits the cells own machinery to get in more effectively. HDP-CDV was developed by Karl Y. Hostetler, M.D., director, Endocrine and Metabolism Clinic, Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System and UCSD professor of medicine, and James Beadle, Ph.D., VASDHS and UCSD research professor, who presented their results at the international conference.
The VASDHS/UCSD work was done in collaboration with research groups headed by John Huggins, Ph.D., USAMRIID, Fort Detrick, Maryland and Earl Kern, Ph.D., University of Alabama, Birmingham.
The effort was initiated in 1999 when
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Contact: Cindy Butler
Cynthia.butler@med.va.gov
858-552-4373
VA Research Communications Service
20-Mar-2002