Maertens J, Cordonnier C, Jaksch P, et al. - Researchers examined if maribavir is safe and efficacious for preemptive treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in transplant recipients. In a phase 2, open-label, maribavir dose–blinded trial, either maribavir at a dose of 400, 800, or 1200 mg twice daily or the standard dose of valganciclovir was assigned to recipients of hematopoietic-cell or solid-organ transplants (≥ 18 years of age, with CMV reactivation [1,000 to 100,000 DNA copies per milliliter]) for no more than 12 weeks. They analyzed data of 156 recipients— 117 in the maribavir group and 39 in the valganciclovir group. Among recipients of hematopoietic-cell or solid-organ transplants, maribavir at a dose of at least 400 mg twice daily had efficacy comparable to that of valganciclovir for clearing CMV viremia. The maribavir group had a higher incidence of gastrointestinal adverse events — notably dysgeusia — and a lower incidence of neutropenia.