Simple, short peptide derivatives of a sulfonylindolecarboxamide (L-737,126) active in vitro against HIV-1 wild type and variants carrying non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor resistance mutations.

Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) active against NNRTI-resistant mutants were obtained by introducing two methyl groups at positions 3 and 5 of the benzenesulfonyl moiety of L-737,126 (1) and coupling one to three glycinamide/alaninamide units to its carboxyamide function. In cell-based assays, the new derivatives showed activities against HIV-1 wild type and NNRTI-resistant mutants [Y181C, K103N-Y181C, and triple mutant (K103R, V179D, P225H) highly resistant to efavirenz] superior to that of the parent indole derivative 1.