The Nucleoside Analog BMS-986001 Shows Greater In Vitro Activity against HIV-2 than against HIV-1.

Treatment options for individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) are restricted by the intrinsic resistance of the virus to nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) and the reduced susceptibility of HIV-2 to several protease inhibitors (PIs) used in antiretroviral therapy (ART). In an effort to identify new antiretrovirals for HIV-2 treatment, we evaluated the in vitro activity of the investigational nucleoside analog BMS-986001 (2',3'-didehydro-3'-deoxy-4'-ethynylthymidine; also known as censavudine, festinavir, OBP-601, 4'-ethynyl stavudine, or 4'-ethynyl-d4T). In single-cycle assays, BMS-986001 inhibited HIV-2 isolates from treatment-naive individuals, with 50% effective concentrations (EC50s) ranging from 30 to 81 nM.