Research Area: Infection
Biological Activity:
Vidarabine(Vira-A) is an antiviral drug which is active against herpes simplex and varicella zoster viruses. Vidarabine works by interfering with the synthesis of viral DNA. It is a nucleoside analog, therefore it has to be phosphorylated and to be active. Vidarabine stops replication of herpes viral DNA in 3 ways: 1) competitive inhibition of viral DNA polymerase, 2) incorporation into and termination of the growing viral DNA chain, 3) inactivation of the viral DNA polymerase. [1]