Bexarotene 75mg capsules
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
Bexarotene (Targretin) is an antineoplastic agent indicated by the FDA for Cutaneous T cell lymphoma.
Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring
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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 Bexarotene
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Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA
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
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) collects suspected adverse reaction reports from across the EU/EEA through the EudraVigilance system. Search for safety data on this medicine.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Bexarotene
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EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.
4 branded products available
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Bexarotene on the MHRA register
Targretin 75mg capsules
Bexarotene 75mg capsules
Bexarotene 75mg capsules
Bexarotene 75mg capsules
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(3)
Brentuximab vedotin for treating CD30-positive cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (TA577)
Mogamulizumab for previously treated mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome (TA754)
Chlormethine gel for treating mycosis fungoides-type cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (TA720)
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
Pharmacy stock checkers
Search for this medicine at major UK pharmacy chains. These links open the retailer's own website — results depend on their current online catalogue.
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: 13 · Randomised trials: 2 · 2001–2025
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
Erica Ginsburg, K. Hennessy, R. Mhaskar, et al.
Dermatologic Therapy, 2022
Ginsburg, E (via Mendeley Data)
2021
Jeffrey L. Cummings, Kate Zhong, Jefferson W. Kinney, et al.
Alzheimer s Research & Therapy, 2016
- Bexarotene
- Alzheimer Disease
- Apolipoproteins E
Sean Whittaker, Pablo L. Ortiz‐Romero, Reinhard Dummer, et al.
British Journal of Dermatology, 2012
- Bexarotene
- Combined Modality Therapy
- Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation
Rodryg Ramlau, Petr Zatloukal, Jacek Jassem, et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2008
- Vinorelbine
- Bexarotene
- Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
Len Farol, Kenneth B. Hymes
Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy, 2004
- Bexarotene
- Breast Neoplasms
- Clinical Trials as Topic
Madeleine Duvic, Kenneth B. Hymes, Peter Heald, et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2001
- Bexarotene
- Quality of Life
- Tetrahydronaphthalenes
Madeleine Duvic, Ángel G. Martín, Y. Kim, et al.
PubMed, 2001
- Bexarotene
- Capsules
- Neoplasm Staging
Debra Breneman, Madeleine Duvic, Timothy M. Kuzel, et al.
Archives of Dermatology, 2002
Chunlei Zhang, Parul Hazarika, Xiao Ni, et al.
PubMed, 2002
- Microtubule-Associated Proteins
- Retinoic Acid Receptor alpha
- Survivin
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
7 hours
Mechanism
Bexarotene selectively binds with and activates retinoid X receptor subtypes.
Food interactions
1 warning
Human targets
3 targets
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Half-life
7 hours
Protein binding
99%
Elimination
1%
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 1067 interactions
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
PMID:10874028 PMID:11162439 PMID:11915042 PMID:37478846
Forms homo- or heterodimers with retinoic acid receptors (RARs) and binds to target response elements in response to their ligands, all-trans or 9-cis retinoic acid, to regulate gene expression in various biological processes .
PMID:10195690 PMID:11162439 PMID:11915042 PMID:16107141 PMID:17761950 PMID:18800767 PMID:19167885 PMID:28167758 PMID:37478846
The RAR/RXR heterodimers bind to the retinoic acid response elements (RARE) composed of tandem 5'-AGGTCA-3' sites known as DR1-DR5 to regulate transcription .
PMID:10195690 PMID:11162439 PMID:11915042 PMID:17761950 PMID:28167758
The high affinity ligand for retinoid X receptors (RXRs) is 9-cis retinoic acid .
PMID:1310260
In the absence of ligand, the RXR-RAR heterodimers associate with a multiprotein complex containing transcription corepressors that induce histone deacetylation, chromatin condensation and transcriptional suppression .
PMID:20215566
On ligand binding, the corepressors dissociate from the receptors and coactivators are recruited leading to transcriptional activation .
PMID:20215566 PMID:37478846 PMID:9267036
Serves as a common heterodimeric partner for a number of nuclear receptors, such as RARA, RARB and PPARA .
PMID:10195690 PMID:11915042 PMID:28167758 PMID:29021580
The RXRA/RARB heterodimer can act as a transcriptional repressor or transcriptional activator, depending on the RARE DNA element context .
PMID:29021580
The RXRA/PPARA heterodimer is required for PPARA transcriptional activity on fatty acid oxidation genes such as ACOX1 and the P450 system genes .
PMID:10195690
Together with RARA, positively regulates microRNA-10a expression, thereby inhibiting the GATA6/VCAM1 signaling response to pulsatile shear stress in vascular endothelial cells .
PMID:28167758
Acts as an enhancer of RARA binding to RARE DNA element .
PMID:28167758
May facilitate the nuclear import of heterodimerization partners such as VDR and NR4A1 .
PMID:12145331 PMID:15509776
Promotes myelin debris phagocytosis and remyelination by macrophages .
PMID:26463675
Plays a role in the attenuation of the innate immune system in response to viral infections, possibly by negatively regulating the transcription of antiviral genes such as type I IFN genes .
PMID:25417649
Involved in the regulation of calcium signaling by repressing ITPR2 gene expression, thereby controlling cellular senescence PMID:30216632
The high affinity ligand for RXRs is 9-cis retinoic acid (By similarity)
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
ATC L01XF03
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)
Bexarotene
Additional database identifiers
ChemSpider
74139
BindingDB
50032675
PDB
9RA
Guide to Pharmacology
2807
ZINC
ZINC000001539579
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10477
GenAtlas
RXRA
GeneCards
RXRA
GenBank Gene Database
X52773
GenBank Protein Database
35885
Guide to Pharmacology
610
UniProt Accession
RXRA_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10478
GenAtlas
RXRB
GeneCards
RXRB
GenBank Gene Database
X63522
GenBank Protein Database
30448
Guide to Pharmacology
611
UniProt Accession
RXRB_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10479
GenAtlas
RXRG
GeneCards
RXRG
GenBank Gene Database
U38480
GenBank Protein Database
1053069
Guide to Pharmacology
612
UniProt Accession
RXRG_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2622
GenAtlas
CYP2C8
GeneCards
CYP2C8
GenBank Gene Database
M17397
Guide to Pharmacology
1325
UniProt Accession
CP2C8_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2637
GenAtlas
CYP3A4
GeneCards
CYP3A4
GenBank Gene Database
M18907
Guide to Pharmacology
1337
UniProt Accession
CP3A4_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 (Q418192), a free and open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication. WHO INN from the World Health Organization.