Antiviral Drugs

Let's talk about Remdesivir! A drug developed by Pfizer that's used to combat Ebola + influenza viral replication.

Modified nucleotide triphosphate which adds onto the RNA strand copied by the RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase carried by viruses

• Pretends + gets inserted as a nucleotide
• Once added onto the RNA chain, jams further actual nucleotides from being inserted

Could but usually does not jam up normal RNA polymerase which does normal transcription (which is why they must be hospital-administered)

• Inhibiting transcription in the short term won't kill you immediately
• So, we hurt normal cell transcription a little in order to rid of the virus
• Need hospital treatment for regular and safe dosing for this exact reason