Five Years Experience with Zidovudine: A Milestone in the Management of HIV

In 1984, when HIV as first confinued as the cause of AIDS, Wellcome was in an ideal position to take up the challenge of discovering an agent which was active against the retrovirus. For more than 30 years, Wellcome has devoted extensive resources to antiviral research and has become an acknowledged leader in this field. Building on the work of Nobel prize winner, Dr Gertrude Elion, the company developed Zovirax* (acy­ clovir) the first selective antiviral agent which effec­ tively controls the reproduction of the herpes simplex virus with minimal side effects. Subsequently, Zovirax has become the cornerstone of antiviral treatment of herpes infections including recurrent genital herpes, cold sores and shingles. From its extensive knowledge of molecular virol­ ogy, Wellcome began an active screening programme in. 1984 which lead to the discovery of the potent anti-HIV activity of zidovudine (Retrovir* or AZT). Clinical trials began the following year and zidovudine received regulatory approval in France, Norway, the USA and the UK in March 1987. It is currently available in more than 70 countries.