Penciclovir

Summary

Penciclovir (CHEMBL1540) is an approved small-molecule antiviral drug (ATC J05AB13); indicated across 3 conditions including viral infectious disease and herpes labialis.

At a glance

• Status: Approved (max clinical phase 4)
• Modality: Small molecule
• ATC class: J05AB13 (+1 more)
• Indications: 3 conditions
• Clinical trials: 2
• Chemistry: 253.26 Da · C10H15N5O3

Identifiers

Drug identity and classification

Field	Value
ChEMBL ID	CHEMBL1540
Name	Penciclovir
Type	Small molecule
Max phase	4
FDA approved	yes
PubChem CID	135398748
ChEBI	CHEBI:7956
ATC	J05AB13, D06BB06
Molecular formula	C10H15N5O3
Molecular weight	253.26
InChIKey	JNTOCHDNEULJHD-UHFFFAOYSA-N

SMILES: C1=NC2=C(N1CCC(CO)CO)N=C(NC2=O)N

IUPAC name: 2-amino-9-[4-hydroxy-3-(hydroxymethyl)butyl]-1H-purin-6-one

ChEBI definition: A member of the class of 2-aminopurines that is guanine in which the hydrogen at position 9 is substituted by a 4-hydroxy-3-(hydroxymethyl)but-1-yl group. An antiviral drug, it is administered topically for treatment of herpes labialis. A prodrug, famciclovir, is used for oral administration.

Pharmacological roles (ChEBI): antiviral drug.

Also known as: BRL-39123, Denavir, Fenistil, NSC-759624, Penciclovir, Vectavir, penciclovir, pencyclovir, PENCICLOVIR, SID144205801, [3H]Penciclovir, SID170464955

Parent form; salt/anhydrous children: CHEMBL2079793

Patent coverage: 9,225 distinct patent families (34,472 SureChEMBL compound mentions), from 4 matched compound structure(s). Mentions count patents naming the compound (not distinct inventions), so promiscuous / reference molecules inflate the mention figure — families are the dedup metric.

Targets

Targets

Broader ChEMBL bioactivity targets: 1 (assay-derived). Sample: Thymidine kinase.

Bioactivity

No ChEMBL bioactivity rows at pChembl ≥ 5 (expected for biologics / antibodies).

Target pathways

No target-pathway data for this drug (no mapped target genes).

Indications & clinical

Indications

2 approved indications. FDA phase 4, plus an anticancer drug’s labelled cancer uses (which ChEMBL often logs at phase 3).

Indication	Phase	MONDO	EFO
viral infectious disease	4	MONDO:0005108	EFO:0000763
herpes labialis	4	MONDO:0043653	EFO:1001347

1 further indication record had no mapped disease name (EFO/MeSH-only) or were duplicates, and are omitted.

Clinical trials

Total trials: 2.

Phase distribution

Phase	Trials
PHASE4	1
PHASE3	1

Top trials by phase / activity

NCT	Phase	Status	Title
NCT00820534	PHASE4	COMPLETED	A Comparative Study of the Efficacy of Penciclovir 10mg/g (1%) Cream in Preventing the Appearance of Classical Lesion in Recurrent Cold Sore Sufferers
NCT01257074	PHASE3	COMPLETED	Non-inferiority Comparison of Efficacy and Safety of Penciclovir 10mg/g to Acyclovir 50mg/g in the Treatment of Recurrent Herpes Labialis

Clinical evidence (CIViC)

No CIViC predictive evidence (expected for non-precision-medicine drugs).

Pharmacology

Pharmacogenomics

No PharmGKB pharmacogenomic data curated for this drug.

Related molecules

Related molecules

No competitor molecules sharing a primary target (ChEMBL phase ≥2 or PubChem drug-class).