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Home > Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (Molecule of the Month for May 2007)

click on the picture above to interact with the 3D model of the Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate structure (this will open a new browser window)
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Tenofovir is a class of antiretroviral drugs known as nucleotide analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NtRTIs), which block reverse transcriptase, an enzyme crucial to viral production in HIV-infected people.

When HIV infects a cell, reverse transcriptase copies the viral single stranded RNA genome into a double-stranded viral DNA. The viral DNA is then integrated into the host chromosomal DNA which then allows host cellular processes, such as transcription and translation to reproduce the virus. RTIs block reverse transcriptase's enzymatic function and prevent completion of synthesis of the double-stranded viral DNA thus preventing HIV from multiplying.

Tenofovir was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 26, 2001. It is currently in late-stage clinical trials for the treatment of hepatitis B.

Formal Chemical Name (IUPAC)
(R)-(1-(6-amino-9H-purin-9-yl)propan-2-yloxy)methylphosphonic acid

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenofovir

Update by Karl Harrison
(Molecule of the Month for May 2007 )