Experimental ocular herpetic infections in rabbits. Treatment with 9-([2-hydroxy-1-(hydroxymethyl)ethoxy]methyl)guanine.

A new acyclic nucleoside, 9-([2-hydroxy-1-(hydroxymethyl)ethoxy]methyl)guanine (BIOLF-62), was found to be efficacious in the treatment of experimental ocular herpes simplex virus infections in rabbits. Complete healing of herpetic lesions occurred in a majority of animals after six days of topical treatment, three times per day. No toxic effects were observed in uninfected, drug-treated eyes. The BIOLF-62 treatment blocked viral replication in infected eyes sufficiently to make recovery of virus from any of the drug-treated eyes impossible, whereas virus was recovered from all placebo-treated eyes.