Editing Ribavirin (section)

==History and culture==
Ribavirin was first made in 1972 under the National Cancer Institute's Virus-Cancer program.<ref name=Sn2001>{{cite journal | vauthors = Snell NJ | title = Ribavirin--current status of a broad spectrum antiviral agent | journal = Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy | volume = 2 | issue = 8 | pages = 1317–1324 | date = August 2001 | pmid = 11585000 | doi = 10.1517/14656566.2.8.1317 | s2cid = 46564870 }}</ref> This was done by researchers from [[Valeant Pharmaceuticals|International Chemical and Nuclear Corporation]] including Roberts A. Smith, Joseph T. Witkovski and Roland K. Robins.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Ribavirin History|url = http://www.news-medical.net/health/Ribavirin-History.aspx|website = News-Medical.net|date = 12 April 2010|access-date = 2016-02-19|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160302004242/http://www.news-medical.net/health/Ribavirin-History.aspx|archive-date = 2016-03-02}}</ref> It was reported that ribavirin was active against a variety of RNA and DNA viruses in culture and in animals, without undue toxicity in the context of cancer chemotherapies.<ref name="Sidwell1972">{{cite journal | vauthors = Sidwell RW, Huffman JH, Khare GP, Allen LB, Witkowski JT, Robins RK | title = Broad-spectrum antiviral activity of Virazole: 1-beta-D-ribofuranosyl-1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxamide | journal = Science | volume = 177 | issue = 4050 | pages = 705–706 | date = August 1972 | pmid = 4340949 | doi = 10.1126/science.177.4050.705 | s2cid = 43106875 | bibcode = 1972Sci...177..705S }}</ref> By the late 1970s, the Virus-Cancer program was widely considered a failure, and the drug development was abandoned.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

After the US Government announced that AIDS was caused by a retrovirus in 1984, drugs examined during the Virus-Cancer program and its focus on retroviruses were re-examined. Although the FDA first approved ribavirin as an antiviral in 1986, it was not indicated to treat HIV or AIDS. As a result, many people with AIDS sought to obtain black market ribavirin via [[Buyers club|buyer's clubs]]. The drug was approved for investigational use against hantavirus in the United States in 1993, but the results from a non-randomized uncontrolled trial were not encouraging: 71% of recipients became anemic and 47% died.

In 2002 with the [[2002–2004 SARS outbreak|SARS outbreak]], early speculation focused on ribavirin as a possible anti-SARS agent.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Koren G, King S, Knowles S, Phillips E | title = Ribavirin in the treatment of SARS: A new trick for an old drug? | journal = CMAJ | volume = 168 | issue = 10 | pages = 1289–1292 | date = May 2003 | pmid = 12743076 | pmc = 154189 }}</ref> Early protocols adopted in Hong Kong adopted a "Hit Hard Hit Early" approach treating SARS with high doses of off-label steroids and Ribavirin.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Leung CW, Kwan YW, Ko PW, Chiu SS, Loung PY, Fong NC, Lee LP, Hui YW, Law HK, Wong WH, Chan KH, Peiris JS, Lim WW, Lau YL, Chiu MC | title = Severe acute respiratory syndrome among children | journal = Pediatrics | volume = 113 | issue = 6 | pages = e535–e543 | date = June 2004 | pmid = 15173534 | doi = 10.1542/peds.113.6.e535 }}</ref> Unfortunately, it later turned out this haphazard approach was at best ineffective and at worst fatal, with many deaths attributed to SARS caused by ribavirin toxicity.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Crowe D |title=SARS - Sterioid and Ribavirin Scandal |date=February 2020 |doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.25308.74881 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339484995 | via = researchgate.net | journal = Unpublished Preprint | quote = Author died before publication}}</ref>{{unreliable source|date=June 2024|reason=Not peer reviewed}}

===Names===
Ribavirin is the [[international nonproprietary name|INN]] and [[United States Adopted Name|USAN]], whereas tribavirin is the [[British Approved Name|BAN]]. Brand names of [[Generic drug|generic]] forms include Copegus, Ribasphere, Rebetol.<ref name=AHFS2016/>