Founded in May 1998, Pharmasset is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company committed to discover, develop and commercialize novel drugs to treat viral infections. The company's primary focus is on the development of oral therapeutics for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, hepatitis B virus, or HBV, and hepatitis C virus, or HCV. Their research and development efforts focus on a class of compounds known as nucleoside analogs, which act to inhibit the natural enzymes required for viral replication.