| umls-concept:C0113168 | skos:definition | NCI: A prodrug of acyclovir with activity against viruses in the herpesvirus family. Desciclovir is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and is converted to acyclovir by xanthine oxidase. Acyclovir is further converted to cyclovir triphosphate by viral thymidine kinase and competitively inhibits viral DNA polymerase by incorporating into the growing viral DNA chain and terminating further polymerization. | lld:umls |
