Baloxavir marboxil is an influenza therapeutic agent, specifically, an enzyme inhibitor targeting the influenza virus' cap-dependent endonuclease activity, one of the activities of the virus polymerase complex. In particular, it inhibits a process known as cap snatching, by which the virus derives short, capped primers from host cell RNA transcripts, which it then uses for polymerase-catalyzed synthesis of its needed viral mRNAs. A polymerase subunit binds to the host pre-mRNAs at their 5′-caps, then the polymerase's endonuclease activity catalyzes its cleavage "after 10–13 nucleotides". As such, its mechanism is distinct from neuraminidase inhibitors such as oseltamivir and zanamivir.
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