Compounds for preventing or treating viral infections and methods of use thereof

Abstract

Described herein are compounds and methods that prevent the viral infection of cells. The compounds and methods described herein minimize viral resistance and maximize the number of targeted viruses.Additionally, the compounds and methods minimize the toxicity toward uninfected cells.

Description

[0001] Cross References to Related Applications [0002] This application claims priority to US Provisional Application Serial No. 60 / 891,954, filed February 28, 2007. All teachings of this application are hereby incorporated by reference into this application in its entirety. Background technique [0003] As a result of intensive research in antiviral drug discovery, there are currently 43 antiviral drugs approved for clinical use worldwide. However, most of them target viral DNA polymerases. This preference may be due to the fact that HSV-1 DNA polymers were the first targets ever identified as antiviral drugs. The second target discovered was the viral protease, which is required for virion maturation. Recently, much effort has been devoted to the development of drugs targeting other viral proteins. A major focus has been on drugs that inhibit viral infection by blocking the very first events in the viral infection process. The first successful infection inhibitor was ...

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Problems solved by technology

However, targeting cellular proteins can also lead to unwanted negative side effects, as such targets are often expressed in many uninfected cells

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