Maribavir

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a herpesvirus commonly causing infection in patients following stem cell or organ transplants. As with other herpesviruses, CMV tends to persist in the host and become reactivated under immunosuppressive conditions - patients requiring multiple immunosuppressive medications to combat transplant rejection are thus at a much higher risk of developing serious CMV infections.

Maribavir belongs to a class of anti-cytomegalovirus antivirals called benzimidazole ribosides. It competitively inhibits the human CMV pUL97 viral protein kinase, which results in viable but severely defective viruses upon replication, although the reasons for this remain poorly defined. In addition, maribavir also inhibits viral release from the nucleus to the cytoplasm by inhibiting pUL97-dependent phosphorylation of the nuclear lamina component lamin A/C, although the extent to which this activity contributes to its antiviral efficacy is unclear.