AZT

American  

Pharmacology, Trademark.

1. azidothymidine: an antiviral drug, manufactured from genetic materials in fish sperm or produced synthetically, used in the treatment of AIDS.

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AZT British  

abbreviation

1. Also called: zidovudine.  azidothymidine

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AZT Scientific  

/ ā′zē-tē′ /

1. A nucleoside analogue antiviral drug that inhibits the replication of retroviruses such as HIV by interfering with the enzyme reverse transcriptase.

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AZT Cultural  

1. A drug used in the treatment of AIDS. It does not cure the disease but does prolong the life of the patient in some cases.

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Example Sentences

AZT remains part of standard HIV therapies and is estimated to have saved or prolonged millions of lives.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 29, 2026

AZT, the first drug to successfully treat HIV/AIDS, was labeled "the most expensive drug in history" in the late 1980s.

From Salon • Aug. 20, 2023

Burroughs Wellcome dropped the price of AZT four days later.

From Washington Post • Aug. 12, 2022

AZT blocks the HIV integrase enzyme, which the virus uses to insert its viral DNA into the DNA of the host cell.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

In 1991, direct action group ACT UP Australia - its terminally ill members impatient for expedited and equal access to early treatment drug AZT - staged a "die-in" at the Department of Health.

From BBC • Feb. 1, 2022