Pritelivir and Genital Herpes Research
In 2016, a randomized crossover study in adults with recurrent genital HSV-2 compared pritelivir with valacyclovir. During the treatment periods, HSV was detected in a smaller percentage of genital swabs with pritelivir than with valacyclovir. The study was important because pritelivir works through a different viral target: the HSV helicase-primase complex.
The result did not mean that pritelivir had become a routine replacement for standard antivirals. Investigational drugs must still be evaluated for safety, effectiveness, dosing, and the populations in which their benefits justify their risks.
This page preserves the subject of an article I originally published in Portuguese in 2017, while avoiding the implication that a single early study establishes long-term superiority.