The following four papers report the results of clinical studies that tested Gene-Eden-VIR/Novirin, a new treatment for genital herpes. The studies also compared Gene-Eden-VIR/Novirin to Acyclovir, Valacyclovir, and Famciclovir, the three leading antiviral drugs.

Genital herpes is one of the most important public health problems. It is a sexually transmitted infection caused by two viruses: the Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV-2), and Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1). In the United States, one in four persons 30 years of age or older has HSV-2. Three drugs are used in the treatment of genital herpes: Acyclovir (ACV), Valacyclovir (VACV, a prodrug of ACV), and Famciclovir (FCV). ACV was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1984, VACV in 1995, and FCV in 1994. All three drugs are used in both episodic and suppressive therapy. Episodic therapy uses short term, self-administration of the drug during outbreaks. The main objective of episodic therapy is to decrease the duration of the outbreaks. Suppressive therapy involves long term, daily administration of the drug before the onset of outbreaks. The main objective of suppressive therapy is to decrease the number of outbreaks. All three drugs are associated with known adverse effects. The most frequent ones, according to the product inserts, are nausea, diarrhea, and headache, for ACV, headache, nausea, and abdominal pain, for VACV, and headache, nausea and dizziness, for FCV. The medical literature also reports non-common serious adverse events.