Vidarabine

(CC) Image: David E. Volk
Vidarabine, an antibiotic drug with antiviral properties.

Vidarabine is an antibiotic drug with antiviral properties against DNA viruses that is an analog of the nucleoside guanosine. It can be used to treat some viral infections, including herpes, vaccinia and varicella zoster viruses. It is isolated from Streptomyces antibioticus.

Chemistry

The IUPAC chemical name for vidarabine is (2R,3S,4S,5R)-2-(6-aminopurin-9-yl)-5-(hydroxymethyl)oxolane-3,4-diol hydrate, and it has the chemical formula C₁₀H₁₅N₅O₅, yielding a molecular mass of 285.2566 g/mol.

Synonyms and brand names

Synonyms

• Adenine Arabinoside
• Arabinofuranosyladenine Triphosphate
• Arabinoside Adenine
• Arabinosyl Adenine
• Arabinosyladenine
• Arabinosyladenine Triphosphate
• Ara Atp
• Ara-A
• Ara-a Triphosphate
• Ara-Atp
• Araadenosine
• Arabinosyl-Atp
• Vidarabine Triphosphate
• 9-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-adenine

Brand names

• Arasena-A®
• Spongoadenosine®
• Vira-A®
• Vidarabin®