Brivudine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Brivudine
Systematic (IUPAC) name
5-[(E)-2-bromoethenyl]-1-[(2R,4S,5R)-4-hydroxy- 5-(hydroxymethyl)oxolan-2-yl]pyrimidine-2,4-dione
Identifiers
CAS number	69304-46-8
ATC code	J05 AB15
PubChem	446727
Chemical data
Formula	C₁₁H₁₃N₂Br O₅
Mol. weight	333.135 g/mol
Pharmacokinetic data
Bioavailability	?
Metabolism	?
Half life	?
Excretion	?
Therapeutic considerations
Pregnancy cat.	?
Legal status
Routes	?

Brivudine is an antiviral drug used in the treatment of herpes zoster.

1 History
2 Approvals
3 Mechanism of Action
4 The drug's name
5 Suppliers

[edit] History

Brivudine is a similar drug to acyclovir. The compound was first synthesized by scientists at the University of Birmingham in the UK in the 1970s. It was shown to be a potent inhibitor of the herpes simplex virus Type 1 (HSV-1) as well as the varicella zoster virus (VZV) by Erik De Clercq at the Rega Institute for Medical Research in Belgium in 1979. In the 1980s the drug became commercially available in East Germany, where it was marketed as Helpin by a pharmaceutical company called Berlin-Chemie.

[edit] Approvals

Brivudine is approved for use in Germany and other European countries including Italy.

[edit] Mechanism of Action

Brivudine is an analogue of the nucleoside thymidine. The drug works because it is able to be incorporated into the viral DNA, but then blocks the action of DNA polymerases, thus inhibiting viral replication.

[edit] The drug's name

Brivudine derives from the drug's chemical name of bromovinyldeoxyuridine or BVDU for short. The drug's full chemical description is (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2-deoxyuridine. It is also sold as Brivudin, Helpin, Zerpex, Zonavir and Zostex.

[edit] Suppliers

Brivudine main supplier is Berlin-Chemie, now part of Italy's Menarini Group. The drug is approved for sale in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain.

Antivirals (primarily J05A, also S01AD and D06BB) edit

Anti-herpesvirus agents		Aciclovir, Cidofovir, Docosanol, Famciclovir, Fomivirsen, Foscarnet, Ganciclovir, Idoxuridine, Penciclovir, Trifluridine, Tromantadine, Valaciclovir, Valganciclovir, Vidarabine
Anti-influenza agents		Amantadine, Oseltamivir, Peramivir, Rimantadine, Zanamivir

Antiretroviral drugs	NRTIs	Abacavir, Didanosine, Emtricitabine, Lamivudine, Stavudine, Zalcitabine, Zidovudine
	NtRTIs	Tenofovir
	NNRTIs	Efavirenz, Delavirdine, Nevirapine
	PIs	Amprenavir, Atazanavir, Darunavir, Fosamprenavir, Indinavir, Lopinavir, Nelfinavir, Ritonavir, Saquinavir, Tipranavir
	Fusion inhibitors	Enfuvirtide

Other antiviral agents		Adefovir, Fomivirsen, Imiquimod, Inosine,Interferon, Podophyllotoxin, Ribavirin, Viramidine