Lamivudine

(CC) Image: David E. Volk
Lamivudine

Lamivudine is a nucleotide-based reverse transcriptase inhibitor used to treat HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B virus. It is an analog of zalcitabine that competes, in the triphosphate form, for incorporation in viral DNA with cytosine triphosphate. Lacking a 3'-OH group, it terminates DNA chain elongation because the phosphodiester bond necessary for elongation cannot be made.

Its IUPAC name is 4-amino-1-[(2R,5S)-2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-oxathiolan-5-yl]pyrimidin-2-one and it has chemical formula C₈H₁₁N₃O₃S.

Brand names

single drug brand names

• 3TC
• Epivir
• Epivir-HBV
• Hepitec
• Heptovir
• Zeffix

brand mixtures

• Combivir (Lamivudine + Zidovudine)
• Kivexa (Abacavir (Abacavir Sulfate) + Lamivudine)
• Trizivir (Abacavir (Abacavir Sulfate) + Lamivudine + Zidovudine)

External links

• Lamivudine - FDA approved drug information (drug label) from DailyMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine).
• Drug Bank at http://www.drugbank.ca/cgi-bin/getCard.cgi?CARD=DB00709