Small molecule
PubChem CID 392622
Ritonavir
Norvir
- Mechanism of action
- HIV protease inhibitor
- In plain language
- Blocks a key enzyme HIV needs to assemble new infectious virus particles, and also boosts the levels of other HIV medicines taken alongside it.
- How it works
- Ritonavir directly inhibits HIV-1 protease, the viral enzyme responsible for cleaving Gag and Gag-Pol polyprotein precursors into the individual structural proteins and enzymes required for viral maturation, causing production of immature, non-infectious viral particles. Separately, ritonavir is a potent inhibitor of cytochrome P450 3A (CYP3A), an enzyme responsible for metabolizing many drugs, including other HIV protease inhibitors. At low, sub-antiviral doses, this CYP3A inhibition raises and sustains plasma concentrations of co-administered protease inhibitors, allowing lower doses and less frequent dosing of those agents.
- Therapeutic applications
- Indicated in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults and pediatric patients. Also widely used, at low doses, as a pharmacokinetic booster co-administered with other HIV protease inhibitors, and as the booster component in nirmatrelvir/ritonavir for COVID-19 treatment.
- Class
- Small molecule
- Therapeutic area
- Antiviral
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