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Official medicine documents
Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected side effects from healthcare professionals and patients. View the Drug Analysis Profile (iDAP) for real-world adverse reaction data.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Benzoyl peroxide
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Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Benzoyl peroxide
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1 branded products available
Part of the PanOxyl brand family (generic: Benzoyl peroxide)
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Benzoyl peroxide on the MHRA register
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity is based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and on a factual NHS dm+d therapeutic-grouping code prefix. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
NICE clinical guidance(2)
Acne vulgaris: management (NG198)
Leg ulcer infection: antimicrobial prescribing (NG152)
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
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Supply & safety information
Official UK regulator monitoring and safety alerts
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. Shortage and safety information sourced from MHRA drug safety updates (gov.uk, Crown Copyright under OGL v3.0).
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
Browse tools
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF code shown is the factual mapping value distributed by NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in the dm+d supplementary file under OGL v3.0; it is not affiliated with, nor licensed from, the publishers of the British National Formulary. ATC codes from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (whocc.no).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Academic studies and reviews for this medicine's active substance
Showing the 50 most relevant studies.
Reviews & meta-analyses: 21 · Randomised trials: 15 · 1946–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
Green N, Jordan RW, Maclean S, et al.
2023
- Shoulder Joint
- Benzoyl Peroxide
- Shoulder
Sattar K, Sakina S, Mumtaz S, et al.
2024
Aleid A, Aleid AM, Nukaly HY, et al.
2025
- Acne Vulgaris
- Benzoyl Peroxide
- Clindamycin
Sesgundo JA, Borra UR, Teslim AA, et al.
2024
- Acne Vulgaris
- Benzoyl Peroxide
- Clindamycin
Fan D, Ma J, Liu X, et al.
2023
Lapenda I, Dannecker RV, Rao B
2026
Elrosasy A, Abo Zeid M, Cadri S, et al.
2024
Logan Kolakowski, Jim K. Lai, Grant Duvall, et al.
Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, 2018
- Preoperative Care
- Anti-Infective Agents, Local
- Awards and Prizes
Weninger V, Agócs G, Hergár L, et al.
2025
Elizabeth M. Seidler, Alexa B. Kimball
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2010
- Acne Vulgaris
- Administration, Topical
- Benzoyl Peroxide
Sources: aggregated from Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI), OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed and other open scholarly databases. Retracted articles are excluded. Study information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
Not available
Mechanism
Acne vulgaris is caused by inflammation in the pilosebaceous gland.
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
5 targets
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
1.9%
Metabolism
[A18903]…
Elimination
[A233859]
Data regarding fecal elimination is not readily available.
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Benzoyl peroxide, in combination with erythromycin, was granted FDA approval on 26 October 1984.[L33264]
[L33249][L33299]
Benzoyl peroxide is also indicated in combination with [tretinoin] for the treatment of acne vulgaris in patients aged nine years and older.
[L34869]
A triple-combination therapy including both clindamycin and [adapalene] is also available and indicated for the treatment of acne vulgaris in patients ≥12 years of age.
[L41613]
Topical benzoyl peroxide is also indicated for the treatment of inflammatory lesions of rosacea in adults.
[L41613]
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 1 of 1 interactions
[L33249][L33264][L33269][L33299][L33314]
During an overdose patients may experience and increased risk or severity of adverse effects such as skin itching, burning, peeling, inflammation, and erythema.
[L33264][L33269][L33299][L33314]
The oral LD50 in rats is 490 mg/kg.
[L33259]
The peroxide bond of benzoyl peroxide is cleaved to form 2 benzoyloxy radicals.[A18903] These radicals interact nonspecifically with bacterial proteins, interfering with their function, and survival of the bacteria.[A233859] Over time, free radical interactions with bacterial proteins lead to decreased keratin and sebum around follicles.[A234059][A234064]
Benzoyl peroxide can also increase the turnover rate of epithelial cells, leading to skin peeling, and breaking down comedones.[A234069]
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
[A233859][A18902]
The radiolabelled dose that fully penetrates the skin is recovered as benzoic acid, while the dose in the skin is approximately half benzoic acid and half benzoyl peroxide.
[A18902]
95.5% of a radiolabelled dose is not absorbed or metabolized after 8 hours.
[A18902]
[A18903]
The benzyoyloxy radicals may interact with other molecules, forming benzoic acid; alternatively, benzoyloxy radicals can break down further to release carbon dioxide and a phenyl radical.
[A18903]
[A233859]
Data regarding fecal elimination is not readily available.
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
PMID:7882369
Promotes growth of cells including T-cells, B-cells, myeloid leukemia cells, melanoma cells, mastocytoma cells and normal and transformed fibroblast cells PMID:7882369
PMID:17900240
Inhibits antizyme-dependent ODC degradation and releases ODC monomers from their inactive complex with antizymes, leading to formation of the catalytically active ODC homodimer and restoring polyamine production .
PMID:17900240
Participates in the morphological integrity of the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and functions as a regulator of intracellular secretory vesicle trafficking PMID:20188728
Upon insulin treatment may act as a downstream effector of PI3K and contribute to the activation of translocation of the glucose transporter SLC2A4/GLUT4 and subsequent glucose transport in adipocytes. In EGF-induced cells, binds and activates MAP2K5/MEK5-MAPK7/ERK5 independently of its kinase activity and can activate JUN promoter through MEF2C. Through binding with SQSTM1/p62, functions in interleukin-1 signaling and activation of NF-kappa-B with the specific adapters RIPK1 and TRAF6.
Participates in TNF-dependent transactivation of NF-kappa-B by phosphorylating and activating IKBKB kinase, which in turn leads to the degradation of NF-kappa-B inhibitors. In migrating astrocytes, forms a cytoplasmic complex with PARD6A and is recruited by CDC42 to function in the establishment of cell polarity along with the microtubule motor and dynein. In association with FEZ1, stimulates neuronal differentiation in PC12 cells.
In the inflammatory response, is required for the T-helper 2 (Th2) differentiation process, including interleukin production, efficient activation of JAK1 and the subsequent phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of STAT6. May be involved in development of allergic airway inflammation (asthma), a process dependent on Th2 immune response. In the NF-kappa-B-mediated inflammatory response, can relieve SETD6-dependent repression of NF-kappa-B target genes by phosphorylating the RELA subunit at 'Ser-311'.
Phosphorylates VAMP2 in vitro .
PMID:17313651
Phosphorylates and activates LRRK1, which phosphorylates RAB proteins involved in intracellular trafficking PMID:36040231
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
ATC D10AE01
ATC D10AE51
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
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Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Benzoyl peroxide
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
6850
ChemSpider
6919
ZINC
ZINC000000001016
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:1516
GenAtlas
CAT
GeneCards
CAT
GenBank Gene Database
X04085
GenBank Protein Database
1228085
UniProt Accession
CATA_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:4557
GenAtlas
GPX5
GeneCards
GPX5
GenBank Gene Database
AJ005277
GenBank Protein Database
3288455
UniProt Accession
GPX5_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:4553
GenAtlas
GPX1
GeneCards
GPX1
GenBank Gene Database
Y00433
GenBank Protein Database
577777
UniProt Accession
GPX1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:4554
GenAtlas
GPX2
GeneCards
GPX2
GenBank Gene Database
X53463
GenBank Protein Database
4902773
UniProt Accession
GPX2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:4555
GenAtlas
GPX3
GeneCards
GPX3
GenBank Gene Database
D00632
GenBank Protein Database
2160390
UniProt Accession
GPX3_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:4558
GenAtlas
GPX6
GeneCards
GPX6
GenBank Gene Database
AY324826
GenBank Protein Database
32492913
UniProt Accession
GPX6_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:4559
GenAtlas
GPX7
GeneCards
GPX7
GenBank Gene Database
AF320068
GenBank Protein Database
25990366
UniProt Accession
GPX7_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:4556
GenAtlas
GPX4
GeneCards
GPX4
GenBank Gene Database
X71973
GenBank Protein Database
825667
Guide to Pharmacology
3239
UniProt Accession
GPX4_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:33100
GeneCards
GPX8
GenBank Gene Database
AK074216
GenBank Protein Database
18676757
UniProt Accession
GPX8_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:29957
GenAtlas
ADC
GeneCards
AZIN2
GenBank Gene Database
AY050634
GenBank Protein Database
15858863
UniProt Accession
AZIN2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:9393
GenAtlas
PRKCA
GeneCards
PRKCA
GenBank Gene Database
X52479
GenBank Protein Database
35483
Guide to Pharmacology
1482
UniProt Accession
KPCA_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:9395
GenAtlas
PRKCB1
GeneCards
PRKCB
GenBank Gene Database
M13975
GenBank Protein Database
189969
Guide to Pharmacology
1483
UniProt Accession
KPCB_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:9399
GenAtlas
PRKCD
GeneCards
PRKCD
GenBank Gene Database
L07860
Guide to Pharmacology
1485
UniProt Accession
KPCD_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:9401
GenAtlas
PRKCE
GeneCards
PRKCE
GenBank Gene Database
X65293
Guide to Pharmacology
1486
UniProt Accession
KPCE_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:9402
GeneCards
PRKCG
Guide to Pharmacology
1484
UniProt Accession
KPCG_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:9404
GeneCards
PRKCI
GenBank Gene Database
L18964
GenBank Protein Database
432274
Guide to Pharmacology
1490
UniProt Accession
KPCI_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:9410
GenAtlas
PRKCQ
GeneCards
PRKCQ
GenBank Gene Database
L01087
GenBank Protein Database
558099
Guide to Pharmacology
1488
UniProt Accession
KPCT_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:9412
GeneCards
PRKCZ
Guide to Pharmacology
1491
UniProt Accession
KPCZ_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:11181
GeneCards
SOD3
UniProt Accession
SODE_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:11179
GenAtlas
SOD1
GeneCards
SOD1
GenBank Gene Database
L44139
UniProt Accession
SODC_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:11180
GeneCards
SOD2
UniProt Accession
SODM_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:1516
GenAtlas
CAT
GeneCards
CAT
GenBank Gene Database
X04085
GenBank Protein Database
1228085
UniProt Accession
CATA_HUMAN
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite the following publications:
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Structured knowledge from the free knowledge base
ATC classifications (Wikidata)
Linked open data from Wikidata (Q411424), a free and open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication.