Vidarabine

**Semantic type:** Nucleic Acid, Nucleoside, or Nucleotide|Pharmacologic Substance

**Definition:** A nucleoside analog with activity against herpes simplex virus and varicella zoster virus. Vidarabine is converted to a monophosphate by viral thymidine kinase and is further modified to a triphosphate form by host enzymes. Vidarabine triphosphate directly inhibits DNA polymerase and also acts as a chain terminator in DNA replication.

**Synonyms:** - 9-Beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-9H-purine-6-amine Monohydrate - 9-Beta-D-arabinofuranosyladenine Monohydrate - Adenine Arabinoside - Ara-A - Araadenosine - Arabinosyladenine - Arasena-A - Beta Ara-A - CI-673 - Spongoadenosine - Spongoadenosine - VIDARABINE - VIDARABINE - Vira-A