ABSTRACT
Zidovudine, or 3′-azido-3′deoxythymidine, formerly known as azidothymidine (AZT; BW A509U), is an analog of the nucleoside thymidine. Zidovudine is a potent inhibitor of the HIV reverse transcriptase and has proven efficacy in the treatment and prevention of HIV infection. It was the first antiretroviral compound to be licensed for the treatment of people infected with HIV. The compound was synthesized much earlier, however, by Horwitz and colleagues (1964) and subsequently used in anticancer research.
