Thiophen urea derivatives as a new class of hepatitis C virus entry inhibitors

To develop unique small-molecule inhibitors of hepatitis C virus (HCV), thiophen urea (TU) derivatives were synthesised and screened for HCV entry inhibitory activities. Among them, seven TU compounds exhibited portent anti-viral activities against genotypes 1/2 (EC < 30 nM) and subsequently, they were further investigated; based on the pharmacological, metabolic, pharmacokinetic, and safety profiles, was selected as the optimised lead compound as an HCV entry inhibitor. possesses effective multi-genotypic antiviral activity. The docking results suggested the potential interaction of with the HCV E2 glycoprotein. These results suggest that can be a potential candidate drug for the development of HCV entry inhibitors.