Rega Institute for Medical Research

The building of the Rega Institute was constructed in 1954 and paid for by the company Recherche et Industrie Thérapeutiques (R.I.T.)

The NNRTIs block the normal enzymatic activity of the RT and thereby interrupt the replication cycle of HIV.

As a result of the "Rega-Janssen" cooperation several prototypes of NNRTIs, among which the so-called TIBO ("TetrahydroImidazoBenzodiazepinOne") and alpha-APA (Alpha-AnilidoPhenylAcetamide) derivatives were created.

This research, in cooperation with Tibotec, resulted in a particular powerful anti-HIV compound, Rilpivirine (TMC-278).

The Nucleoside analogs, d4T, 3'-fluoro-3'-deoxythymidine (FLT) and 3'-fluorodideoxyguanosine (FLG), and the NNRTI's 1-[(2-hydroxy-ethoxy) methyl]-6-phenylthiothymine (HEPT), tetrahydro-imidazo[4,5,1-jk][1,4]-benzodiazepine-2(1H)-one and -thione (TIBO) and alpha-anilinophenylacetamide (alpha-APA) were first described at the Rega Institute.