The Elegance of the Acyclic Nucleoside Phosphonates (ANPs), Honorary Tribute to Antonín Holý, Who Passed Away on 16 July 2012, at the 10th Anniversary of His Death

My collaboration with Prof. Antonín Holý, that spans a period of 3-4 decades (1976-2012), led to the discovery of several acyclic nucleoside phosphonates (ANPs) which were clinically developed by Gilead Sciences: cidofovir, adefovir, and tenofovir. The latter was further converted to two orally bioavailable prodrug forms, TDF and TAF, and both TDF and TAF were further combined with other antiviral drugs, thus giving rise to a broad array of antiviral drug combinations for the treatment of HIV infections. TDF and TAF are both available for the treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections, and, in combination with emtricitabine, also applicable as Truvada^® and Descovy^®, respectively, for the prophylaxis of HIV infections.