Patent ID: 7547509

Claim:
A method for preparing an antiviral polypeptide-polymer conjugate, comprising: (i) providing an antiviral polypeptide having at least 70% sequence identity to native cyanovirin-N (SEQ ID NO. 1), wherein said polypeptide is modified relative to SEQ ID NO: 1 to contain 1-4 reactive sites for selective conjugation, each said reactive site being selected from: (a) a cysteine substitution or insertion of at least one position selected from the group consisting of 5, 9-21, 25, 29-40, 45-49, 52, 57, 59-72, 79-91, 96-101 of SEQ ID NO: 1, the C-terminus, and the N-terminus; and (b) a single lysine residue remaining after arginine substitution of all but one of the lysine residues in the polypeptide; or a fragment thereof, wherein the fragment includes the sequence set forth in residues 40-80 of SEQ ID NO: 1, modified to contain at least one said reactive site for selective conjugation; and (ii) covalently attaching thereto, at at least one said reactive site for selective conjugation, a water-soluble polymer, wherein said antiviral polypeptide-polymer conjugate has antiviral activity.