A broad spectrum of antiviral activity of this compound was discovered as early as the seventies. It interfered with life cycle of both DNA and RNA viruses, and irreversibly inactivated herpes virus . During the first SARS epidemy, it was demonstrated that glycyrrhizic acid did eliminate SARS-CoV virus from infected monkey cells, although high doses (0.3-2.4 g/L, final concentration) were required .