Although pritelivir markedly reduced the rate of viral shedding, some breakthrough shedding still occurred. "The question of whether further increases in the daily dose of pritelivir would completely abrogate viral shedding will have to be addressed in additional studies," they said.
Since pritelivir targets a different pathway than nucleoside analogues such as acyclovir, future studies also should investigate the effectiveness of combination therapy, the investigators added.
This study was funded by AiCuris. Dr. Wald reported ties to Agenus, Amgen, Genentech, Genocea, Gilead, and Vical. Her associates reported numerous relevant financial disclosures.