Patent ID: 8912163

Claim:
A method of treatment of viral infection with the Varicella Zoster virus, comprising administering to a human or non-human animal patient in need of such treatment an effective amount of a compound of formula (III): wherein X is O, S, NH or CH 2 ; Y is O, S or NH; Z is O, S or CH 2 ; R 1 is C 1-8 alkyl; at least one of R 2 and R 3 is H—[R 4 —R 5 ] n —R 6 —, in which: H—[R 4 —R 5 ] n — comprises an oligopeptide, R 4 is an amino acid, R 5 is an amino acid selected from the group consisting of proline, alanine, hydroxyproline, dihydroxyproline, thiazolidinecarboxylic acid (thioproline), dehydroproline, pipecolic acid (L-homoproline), azetidinecarboxylic acid, aziridinecarboxylic acid, glycine, serine, valine, leucine, isoleucine and threonine, R 6 is a neutral, non-polar amino acid moiety that is bonded to R 5 by a peptide bond, and n is 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5; and the other of R 3 and R 2 is H—[R 4 —R 5 ] n —R 6 — or H; or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.