Rational design of antiviral agents.

Examining the change in the state of the art of antiviral drug discovery, from the discovery nearly 40 years ago of a smallpox drug (methisazone) of unknown mechanism of action to the analysis of an antiviral agent bound to a virus at atomic resolution, gives the reader an appreciation for the magnitude of the advances in the science of antiviral chemotherapy. The clinical success of amantadine, acyclovir, and azidothymidine have proved that antiviral chemotherapy is a reality. The next step will be to apply the new tools of x-ray crystallography and computational chemistry to the antiviral challenges that lie before us.