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British Medical Bulletin 41:309-314 (1985)
© 1985 The British Council

research-article

A HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY AND CLINICAL APPLICATION OF ANTIVIRAL DRUGS

D J Bauer

Wellcome Research Laboratories Beckenham, Kent

Abstract

The accelerating pace of the discovery of clinically effective antiviral drugs is in marked contrast to the slow progress made at the beginning of the search. Whereas effective antibacterials were known in the late 1930s, the discovery of the first antiviral compounds did not come until 1950, and it was not until 1960 that two of them came into clinical use, namely idoxuridine for the treatment of herpetic keratitis, and methisazone for the prophylaxis of smallpox in contacts and the treatment of the infective complications of smallpox vaccination. Idoxuridine has remained the mainstay of the treatment of herpetic keratitis, but is being supplanted by newer compounds, in particular acyclovir, which has the advantage of being caused by the herpes group of viruses. An active search for antirhinovirus compounds has yielded dichloroflavan, the most active antiviral compound yet discovered, yet clinical success still remains elusive.


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