Is there an anti-adenoviral drug on the horizon?

Abstract

Adenovirus ocular infections are the most common ocular viral infections worldwide. To date, there is no US FDA- or EMA-approved antiviral for the treatment of these infections. However, several agents are currently in industry, academic and investigator sponsored clinical trials. The antiviral agents under evaluation are: NVC-422 (0.33%, NovaBay); ganciclovir (0.15%, Bausch + Lomb; 0.15 and 0.3% Adapt Produtos Oftalmológicos Ltda.; 0.15% Laboratoires Thea); povidone-iodine (2%, Mahidol University; 5%, Betadine for EKC Internet Study) and a combination of 0.4% povidone-iodine and 0.1% dexamethasone (FST-100, Foresight Biotherapeutics; University of Campinas, Brazil). This article will examine the characteristics of these agents and rate their chances for FDA or EMA approval for this indication.