Lufotrelvir (PF-07304814) is an

antiviral Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used for treating viral infections. Most antivirals target specific viruses, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Unlike most antibiotics, antiviral drugs do no ...

drug developed by

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

which acts as a 3CL protease inhibitor. It is a prodrug with the

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...

group being cleaved ''in vivo'' to yield the active agent PF-00835231. Lufotrelvir is in human

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, diet ...

s for the treatment of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, and shows good activity against COVID-19 including several variant strains, but unlike the related drug nirmatrelvir it is not orally active and must be administered by

intravenous infusion Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutrie ...

, and so has been the less favoured candidate for clinical development overall.

References

Anti–RNA virus drugs Antiviral drugs COVID-19 drug development Pfizer brands Amides Pyrrolidones Phosphonic acids Indoles Methoxy compounds SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors {{antiinfective-drug-stub

See also

References