Recent advances in the treatment of rhinovirus infections.

Rhinoviruses are the most common causes of viral respiratory infections and complications caused by viral respiratory infections in patients with underlying lung disease. Major recent therapeutic advances include the development of capsid-function inhibitors (pleconaril), inhibitors of 3C protease (AG7088), and recombinant soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM)-1, all of which exhibit potent antirhinoviral activity in vitro and varying activity in clinical trials. Pleconaril and AG7088 have shown the most promise and are the most advanced in clinical trials.