Famciclovir

General information

Famciclovir is an oral prodrug of penciclovir, a selective antiviral drug with activity against Varicella zoster virus, Herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, and Epstein–Barr virus, as well as human hepatitis B virus.

After oral administration, famciclovir is well absorbed (systemic availability 77%), with little intersubject variability, and is rapidly converted to penciclovir. This compares favorably with aciclovir, the absorption of which is slow and incomplete, with a highly variable systemic availability of only 10–20%.

Drug studies