Viracept
® (
nelfinavir mesylate) is a prescription medicine used as a
treatment for HIV and
AIDS. It is approved for use only in combination with other
HIV or AIDS medications.
(Click Viracept Uses for more information on what the medication is used for, including possible off-label uses.)
Viracept is made by Pfizer, Inc.
Viracept belongs to a group of AIDS and HIV medications known as protease inhibitors (PIs). These medicines work by blocking a process that the HIV virus needs in order to multiply.
HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is the virus that causes AIDS. Like other viruses, HIV must use a person's own cells to reproduce. Once inside an infected cell, the HIV virus uses the cell to make DNA (to make new HIV viruses that can spread to other cells). The DNA is made in long strands that must be clipped into shorter, usable strands using enzymes called proteases.
Viracept is a protease inhibitor, which means that it stops protease enzymes from clipping DNA into short strands. Since the long, unclipped DNA strands cannot be used to make new viruses, this helps stop the spread of HIV to other uninfected cells.
Viracept is not a cure for HIV or AIDS. It can help stop HIV from infecting uninfected cells in the body, but it does not help cells that have already been infected with the virus.
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