The 17th International Conference on Antiviral Research.

Buckheit, Robert W

The focus of the 17th International Conference on Antiviral Research was the discovery and development of antiviral agents (chemistry, biology, animal models and clinical trial results) against a variety of human infectious agents including HIV, herpes viruses, hepatitis viruses, respiratory viruses and emerging/re-emerging pathogens. The meeting included the symposium 'Clinical Update on Antiviral Drugs', plenary sessions dedicated to each of the individual classes of infectious agents, a symposium on new developments surrounding emerging pathogens, and three special award lectures, which discussed the history of nucleotide antiviral agents, mechanisms of viral persistence and drug resistance, and the therapy of herpes virus infections. Within each infectious agent session the presentations included those describing the development of new and novel anti-infectives, including research based on the preclinical development of new molecules, and the results of animal modelling and clinical studies on advanced-stage antiviral agents. A summary of the meeting highlights, segregated by infectious agent, will be presented in this review.