Protease Inhibitor (pharmacology)

Protease Inhibitor (pharmacology)

Protease inhibitors (PIs) are a class of drugs used to treat or prevent infection by viruses, including HIV and Hepatitis C. PIs prevent viral replication by inhibiting the activity of proteases, e.g. HIV-1 protease, enzymes used by the viruses to cleave nascent proteins for final assembly of new virions.

Protease inhibitors have been developed or are presently undergoing testing for treating various viruses:

• HIV/AIDS: antiretroviral protease inhibitors (saquinavir, ritonavir, indinavir, nelfinavir, amprenavir etc.)
• Hepatitis C: Boceprevir
• Hepatitis C: Telaprevir

Given the specificity of the target of these drugs there is the risk, as in antibiotics, of the development of drug-resistant mutated viruses. To reduce this risk it is common to use several different drugs together that are each aimed at different targets.