A drug once considered for cancer chemotherapy is advancing in clinical trials to test its effectiveness in fighting a virus from the herpes family that threatens transplant patients. University of Michigan professors Leroy Townsend and John Drach developed the compound maribavir. It is licensed by ViroPharma, which announced today that maribavir is headed for phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of cytomegalovirus infection in stem cell transplant patients. New drugs go through three phases of clinical trials before the Food and Drug Administration decides on their approval.
