Pharmaceutical
prodrug compositions are provided comprising
azide derivatives of drugs which are capable of being converted to the
drug in vivo.
Azide derivatives of drugs having amine,
ketone and hydroxy substituents are converted
in vivo to the corresponding drugs, increasing the half-life of the drugs. In addition
azide prodrugs are often better able to penetrate the blood-brain barrier than the corresponding drugs. Especially useful are
azide derivatives of
cordycepin, 2′-F-ara-ddI, AraA, acyclovir,
penciclovir and related drugs. Useful azide prodrugs are azide derivatives of therapeutic alicyclic amines, ketones, and hydroxy-substituted compounds, including aralkyl, heterocyclic aralkyl, and cyclic aliphatic compounds, where the amine or
oxygen moiety is on the ring, or where the amine or
oxygen moiety is on an aliphatic
side chain, as well as therapeutic purines and pyrimidines,
nucleoside analogs and phosphorylated
nucleoside analogs.