- Jung, Yujeong;
- Ahn, Soo;
- An, Taeyang;
- Cha, Hyeon-Min;
- Kim, Minjae;
- Cheon, Hyunjin;
- Jang, Yejin;
- Lee, Haemi;
- Kim, Byungil;
- Kim, Meehyein;
- Lee, Yan
We present orally administrable prodrugs (OSC-GCDIs) of guanidino oseltamivir carboxylate (GOC) based on guanidine cyclic diimide (GCDI) to treat influenza viruses. By concealing the guanidine group, which significantly limits the intestinal absorption, its prodrugs OSC-GCDIs demonstrate dramatic improvement of oral bioavailability. The most promising antiviral substance OSC-GCDI(P) readily forms covalent adducts with serum proteins via a degradable linker after the intestinal absorption. Subsequently, the active species, GOC, is released from the conjugate in a sustained manner, which greatly contributes to improving pharmacokinetic properties. Because of the remarkable improvements in both oral bioavailability and longevity of its active metabolite, OSC-GCDI(P) demonstrates outstanding therapeutic efficacy against both wild-type and oseltamivir-resistant (H275Y) influenza virus strains in a mouse infection model, even with a single oral administration.