Resiquimod
Resiquimod
Chemical compound
Resiquimod (R-848) is a drug that acts as an immune response modifier, and has antiviral and antitumour activity. It is used as a topical gel[1] in the treatment of skin lesions[2] such as those caused by the herpes simplex virus[3][4] and cutaneous T cell lymphoma,[5] and as an adjuvant to increase the effectiveness of vaccines.[6] In an animal disease model, systemic administration of resiquimod-loaded nanoparticles has been shown to improve response rates to cancer immunotherapy with a checkpoint inhibitor through stimulation of tumor-associated macrophages.[7] It has several mechanisms of action, being both an agonist for toll-like receptor 7 and 8,[8] and an upregulator of the opioid growth factor receptor.[9] On 28 April 2016, orphan designation (EU/3/16/1653) was granted by the European Commission to Galderma R&D, France for resiquimod to be used in the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.[10]