Letermovir for preventing cytomegalovirus disease in kidney transplant patients


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Letermovir is in clinical development for adult patients who have received a kidney transplant and are at risk of developing cytomegalovirus disease (CMV).

Interventions: Letermovir
Indications: Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
Therapeutic Areas: Infectious Disease
Year: 2022

Letermovir is in clinical development for adult patients who have received a kidney transplant and are at risk of developing cytomegalovirus disease (CMV). CMV is normally a mild infection that causes flu-like symptoms but can be life-threatening in certain groups. Once infected with CMV, the virus stays in the body throughout a person’s life with no symptoms. However, it can become reactivated when a person’s immune system is compromised. Patients who receive an organ transplant take immunosuppressive medication to stop their immune system from rejecting the transplanted organ. This immunosuppressive medication can reactivate CMV, often leading to severe complications (such as pneumonia and swelling of the brain), or death in transplant recipients.