R848 is an imidazoquinoline and agonist of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) 7 and 8
It mimics the pathogen-associated molecular patterns that activate immune cells through TLR7 and TLR8, and thereby acts as an immune-response modifier
It demonstrates potent anti-tumor and anti-viral properties (IC50 = 4.2 μM; Seganish et al.) which appear to be mediated predominantly through the induction of cytokines, including interferon (IFN)-α and interleukin (IL)-12 due to stimulation of monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells (Bernstein et al.; Hattermann et al.; Nian et al.)
