The mesylate salt form of saquinavir, a synthetic peptidomimetic substrate with antiviral property. Saquinavir selectively binds to and inhibits human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease, an aspartic protease that cleaves viral gag and gag-pol polyprotein (precursors for viral proteases, reverse transcriptase, and integrase). Inhibition of HIV-1 protease prevents functional viral proteins to be cleaved from the viral polyprotein precursor and results in the release of immature, noninfectious virions. Check for active clinical trials using this agent. (NCI Thesaurus)