 Because some viroporins are essential for viral propagation, they are often considered to be appealing drug targets for development of antiviral drugs.Although many chemical compounds have been reported to interfere with the ion channel functions of various viroporins, clinical usage is relatively rare.Amantadine, which was discovered in the 1960s and has been in clinical use against influenza A for some time, is an example of a viroporin-targeting drug; however, a 2014 Cochrane review did not find benefit for its use.