Pioneering Role of T.C. Merigan in the Treatment of Various Virus Infections

The research of Prof. Dr. Thomas C. Merigan has spanned almost half a century. It started in 1963 with his interest in interferon (<i>i</i>). He then identified pyran copolymer as a synthetic polyanionic inducer of interferon (<i>ii</i>), and thereafter thiophosphate-substituted polyribonucleotides, i.e., poly r(s¯A-s¯U) (<i>iii</i>). He recognized the potential of interferon as a therapeutic agent for virus infections (<i>iv</i>), varicella-zoster virus (VZV) being the first case in point (<i>v</i>). His interest then shifted to the treatment of herpes virus [herpes simplex virus (HSV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV)] infections (<i>vi</i>) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections (<i>vii</i>), to end up with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections (<i>viii</i>, <i>ix</i>, <i>x</i>). T.C. Merigan's pioneering work on the treatment of so many pivotal virus infections deserves further in-depth clinical evaluation.