In vitro antiviral efficacy of amenamevir against feline herpesvirus 1

• Published in: Journal of veterinary medical science Vol. 87; no. 8; pp. 906 - 910
• Main Authors: KIKUIRI, Aoi, NISHIGAKI, Haruka, FUJII, Hikaru, WATANABE, Shumpei, KOJIMA, Isshu, MORIKAWA, Shigeru
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan The Japanese Society of Veterinary Science 2025
• Subjects: Acyclovir - analogs & derivatives; Acyclovir - pharmacology; Animals; Antiviral Agents - pharmacology; Cats; Cell Line; Guanine; Herpesviridae Infections - drug therapy; Herpesviridae Infections - veterinary; Oxadiazoles - pharmacology; Varicellovirus - drug effects; Virology; antiviral agent; amenamevir; feline herpesvirus type 1; helicase-primase inhibitor
• ISSN: 0916-7250; 1347-7439; 1347-7439
• DOI: 10.1292/jvms.25-0086

Amenamevir (AMNV), a helicase-primase inhibitor, has recently received approval for treating human herpesvirus infections. Herein, we evaluated the efficacy of AMNV against feline herpesvirus 1 (FHV-1) in three different cell lines and compared it with that of acyclovir (ACV) and penciclovir (PCV)-nucleoside analogs currently used against FHV-1 infection. The 50% inhibitory concentrations of AMNV against FHV-1 were comparable to those of ACV in all cell lines tested, although they were 2.0 to 21.0-fold higher than those of PCV. This is the first study to have evaluated the efficacy of AMNV against animal herpesvirus, and the results suggest that AMNV could be a new option for treating FHV-1 infection with a novel mechanism of action.