Chloramphenicol 0.5% eye drops 0.5ml unit dose preservative free
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
An antibiotic first isolated from cultures of <em>Streptomyces venezuelae</em> in 1947 but now produced synthetically.
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 Chloramphenicol
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Report a side effect
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 Chloramphenicol
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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.
2 branded products available
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Chloramphenicol on the MHRA register
Minims chloramphenicol 0.5% eye drops 0.5ml unit dose
This is the NHS Drug Tariff indicative price used for reimbursement purposes. It may not reflect the price paid by patients or pharmacies.
View full Drug TariffSource: NHS Drug Tariff via NHSBSA. Derived from dm+d VMPP (Virtual Medicinal Product Pack) pricing data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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(4)
Meningitis (bacterial) and meningococcal disease: recognition, diagnosis and management (NG240)
Impetigo: antimicrobial prescribing (NG153)
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (acute exacerbation): antimicrobial prescribing (NG114)
AdenoPlus point-of-care test for diagnosing adenoviral conjunctivitis (MIB46)
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: 7 · Randomised trials: 1 · 1957–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
N. Eliakim‐Raz, Adi Lador, Y. Leibovici-Weissman, et al.
The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy, 2015
Mohamadi B, Akbari-Adergani B, Velayati N, et al.
2026
- Milk
- Chloramphenicol
- Anti-Bacterial Agents
Štefan Schwarz, Corinna Kehrenberg, Benoît Doublet, et al.
FEMS Microbiology Reviews, 2004
- Anti-Bacterial Agents
- Bacterial Proteins
- Chloramphenicol
Jaap C. Hanekamp, Aalt Bast
Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, 2014
- Anti-Bacterial Agents
- Chloramphenicol
- Food Contamination
George P. Dinos, Constantinos M. Athanassopoulos, Dionissia A. Missiri, et al.
Antibiotics, 2016
Mohammad Boshir Ahmed, John L. Zhou, Huu Hao Ngo, et al.
Bioresource Technology, 2017
- Anti-Bacterial Agents
- Charcoal
- Chloramphenicol
C. Heal, P. Buettner, R. Cruickshank, et al.
The BMJ, 2009
Henry M. Feder, C. Osier, E G Maderazo
Clinical Infectious Diseases, 1981
- Anemia, Aplastic
- Bacterial Infections
- Chloramphenicol
Huiyu Dong, Z. Qiang, Jun Hu, et al.
Water research, 2017
Howard J Balbi
Pediatrics in Review, 2004
- Anti-Bacterial Agents
- Brain Abscess
- Chloramphenicol
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
1.5 - 3.5 hours
Mechanism
Chloramphenicol is lipid-soluble, allowing it to diffuse through the bacterial cell membrane.
Food interactions
1 warning
Human targets
1 target
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
80%
Half-life
1.5 - 3.5 hours
Protein binding
50-60%
Metabolism
90%
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
The FDA has withdrawn all oral drug products containing chloramphenicol, due to the high risk of fatal aplastic anemia associated with this specific route of administration.[L43942][L44022]
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 901 interactions
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
Half-life in children 1 month to 16 years old is 3 - 6.5 hours, while half-life in infants 1 to 2 days old is 24 hours or longer and is highly variable, especially in low birth-weight infants.
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
PMID:7525274
Inhibits complement activation by destabilizing and preventing the formation of C3 and C5 convertases, which prevents complement damage PMID:28657829
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
Proteins that transport this drug across cell membranes
PMID:11669456 PMID:11907186 PMID:14675047 PMID:22108572 PMID:23832370 PMID:28534121 PMID:9950961
Mediates the uptake of OA across the basolateral side of proximal tubule epithelial cells, thereby contributing to the renal elimination of endogenous OA from the systemic circulation into the urine .
PMID:9887087
Functions as a biopterin transporters involved in the uptake and the secretion of coenzymes tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), dihydrobiopterin (BH2) and sepiapterin to urine, thereby determining baseline levels of blood biopterins .
PMID:28534121
Transports prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and prostaglandin F2-alpha (PGF2-alpha) and may contribute to their renal excretion .
PMID:11907186
Also mediates the uptake of cyclic nucleotides such as cAMP and cGMP .
PMID:26377792
Involved in the transport of neuroactive tryptophan metabolites kynurenate (KYNA) and xanthurenate (XA) and may contribute to their secretion from the brain .
PMID:22108572 PMID:23832370
May transport glutamate .
PMID:26377792
Also involved in the disposition of uremic toxins and potentially toxic xenobiotics by the renal organic anion secretory pathway, helping reduce their undesired toxicological effects on the body .
PMID:11669456 PMID:14675047
Uremic toxins include the indoxyl sulfate (IS), hippurate/N-benzoylglycine (HA), indole acetate (IA), 3-carboxy-4- methyl-5-propyl-2-furanpropionate (CMPF) and urate .
PMID:14675047 PMID:26377792
Xenobiotics include the mycotoxin ochratoxin (OTA) .
PMID:11669456
May also contribute to the transport of organic compounds in testes across the blood-testis-barrier PMID:35307651
ATC D06AX02
ATC S02AA01
ATC D10AF03
ATC S01AA01
ATC G01AA05
ATC J01BA01
ATC S03AA08
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)
Chloramphenicol
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
16112
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
8578
ChemSpider
5744
BindingDB
23447
PDB
CLM
ZINC
ZINC000000113382
UniProt Accession
RL16_ECOLI
GenBank Gene Database
M62834
GenBank Protein Database
145801
UniProt Accession
DRAA_ECOLX
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2665
GenAtlas
CD55
GeneCards
CD55
GenBank Gene Database
M31516
GenBank Protein Database
181468
UniProt Accession
DAF_HUMAN
GenBank Gene Database
X07848
GenBank Protein Database
47025
UniProt Accession
CAT3_ECOLX
GenBank Gene Database
AF036933
GenBank Protein Database
4104539
UniProt Accession
CAT4_PSEAE
GenBank Gene Database
U09991
GenBank Protein Database
498888
UniProt Accession
CPT_STRVP
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2621
GeneCards
CYP2C19
GenBank Gene Database
M61854
GenBank Protein Database
181344
Guide to Pharmacology
1328
UniProt Accession
CP2CJ_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2637
GenAtlas
CYP3A4
GeneCards
CYP3A4
GenBank Gene Database
M18907
Guide to Pharmacology
1337
UniProt Accession
CP3A4_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2638
GenAtlas
CYP3A5
GeneCards
CYP3A5
GenBank Gene Database
J04813
GenBank Protein Database
181346
Guide to Pharmacology
1338
UniProt Accession
CP3A5_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2640
GeneCards
CYP3A7
GenBank Gene Database
D00408
GenBank Protein Database
220149
UniProt Accession
CP3A7_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10970
GenAtlas
hROAT1
GeneCards
SLC22A6
GenBank Gene Database
AF057039
GenBank Protein Database
3831566
Guide to Pharmacology
1025
UniProt Accession
S22A6_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
Molecular structure
Linked open data from Wikidata (Q274515), a free and open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication. Molecular structure images from Wikimedia Commons. WHO INN from the World Health Organization.