Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government
Government Funding Lapse
Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted.

The NIH Clinical Center (the research hospital of NIH) is open. For more details about its operating status, please visit cc.nih.gov.

Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov.

acinterferon alfa

A proprietary recombinant protein highly resembling human interferon alpha 2b (IFN-a2b), with potential anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulating and antiviral activities. Upon injection, acinterferon alfa binds to specific IFN alpha cell surface receptors. This activates interferon-mediated signal transduction pathways and induces the transcription and translation of genes with interferon-specific response elements (ISREs). This may activate the immune system, including the activation of natural killer cells (NKs) and may result in an inhibition of tumor cell proliferation, tumor angiogenesis, metastasis and an induction of apoptosis. Compared to human IFN-a2b (HuINF-a2b), this agent exhibits enhanced antiviral and antiproliferative activities. In addition, this agent exhibits antiviral activity against a variety of viruses, including hepatitis B and C viruses, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Avian Influenza.
Synonym:recombinant IFN Alfa-2b-like protein
Foreign brand name:Novaferon
Search NCI's Drug Dictionary