Do I need a prescription for Coal tar 5% in Generic Unguentum M cream?

Coal tar 5% in Generic Unguentum M cream is classified as a Never Valid To Prescribe As A VMP in the UK. However, always consult a pharmacist or doctor before use. (Source: NHS dm+d)

What are the brand names for Coal tar 5% in Generic Unguentum M cream?

Coal tar 5% in Generic Unguentum M cream is the generic name. It is available under brand names including: Coal tar 5% in Unguentum M cream. (Source: NHS dm+d — Actual Medicinal Products)

Coal tar 5% in Generic Unguentum M cream

Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring

Report a side effect

Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA

Official medicine documents

Yellow Card

Report side effects (MHRA)

Drug safety updates

MHRA alerts for Coal tar

Source: MHRA Products DatabaseOGL 3.0

Updated 16 Jan 2026

Safety monitoring data

Yellow Card reports

MHRA

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.

View Drug Analysis Profile

Suspected adverse reactions reported for Coal tar

Browse all iDAP reports

Interactive Drug Analysis Profiles for all medicines

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

EMA

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.

View EudraVigilance report

Suspected adverse reactions reported for Coal tar

About EudraVigilance

Learn about EU pharmacovigilance and safety monitoring

EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.

1 branded products available

1 products

Possibly available on the UK marketRestricted supplyDiscontinuedAvailability per NHS dm+d

MHRA licensed products

View all licensed products for Coal tar on the MHRA register

Coal tar 5% in Unguentum M cream

Special Order

None

Special

Source: NHS dm+dOGL 3.0

Updated 1 Mar 2026

Therapeutically similar medicines

10 similar

Coal tar 20% in White soft paraffin

Other

20%

Same active substance (NHS dm+d)

Coal tar solution 15% in Emulsifying ointment

Ointment

15%

Same active substance (NHS dm+d)

Coal tar solution 0.5% in White soft paraffin

Other

0.5%

Same active substance (NHS dm+d)

Coal tar 2% in Aqueous cream

Cream

2%

Same active substance (NHS dm+d)

Coal tar solution strong 6% in Yellow soft paraffin

Other

6%

Same active substance (NHS dm+d)

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

Loading prescribing data...

Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

NICE clinical guidance(1)

Psoriasis: assessment and management (CG153)

CG153

Clinical guideline

Updated Sept 2017

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.

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Supply & safety information

Official UK regulator monitoring and safety alerts

MHRA drug safety updates

UK regulator alerts and supply notices

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

SNOMED CT

22470711000001104

dm+d ID

22470711000001104

VTM (Virtual Therapeutic Moiety)

775333000

VMP (Virtual Medicinal Product)

22470711000001104

SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov

Searching UK clinical trials...

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: 2 · 1933–2026

Sort

Influencing factors mechanisms and prospects of high-temperature coal tar denitration with deep eutectic solvents

Shuanglong FENG, Pengzhi BEI, Zehua CHENG, et al.

Meitan xuebao, 2026

Systematic review

ZnO template strategy for the synthesis of 3D interconnected graphene nanocapsules from coal tar pitch as supercapacitor electrode materials

Xiaojun He, Xiaojing Li, Hao Ma, et al.

Journal of Power Sources, 2016

Highly cited for its field

Cited by 246

Value-added utilization of high-temperature coal tar: A review

Zhi-Hao Ma, Xian‐Yong Wei, Guang‐Hui Liu, et al.

Fuel, 2021

Review

Highly cited for its field

Cited by 131

Pre‐Oxidating and Pre‐Carbonizing to Regulate the Composition and Structure of Coal Tar Pitch: The Fabrication of Porous Carbon for Supercapacitor Applications

Qian Liu, Dongling Wu, Tao Wang, et al.

Advanced Functional Materials, 2024

Highly cited for its field

Cited by 147

MgO-templated hierarchical porous carbon sheets derived from coal tar pitch for supercapacitors

Weidan Geng, Fangwei Ma, Guang Wu, et al.

Electrochimica Acta, 2016

Highly cited for its field

Cited by 169

Recent advancement in coal tar pitch-based carbon fiber precursor development and fiber manufacturing process

Chandrachur Banerjee, Vimal Kumar Chandaliya, Pratik Swarup Dash

Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 2021

Review

Highly cited for its field

Cited by 98

Pore structure regulation of hierarchical porous carbon derived from coal tar pitch via pre-oxidation strategy for high-performance supercapacitor

Xiaoxia Yang, Shuai Zhao, Zhuangzhuang Zhang, et al.

Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2022

Highly cited for its field

Cited by 160

An internally consistent correlation for predicting the critical properties and molecular weights of petroleum and coal-tar liquids

Chorng H. Twu

Fluid Phase Equilibria, 1984

Highly cited for its field

Cited by 379

Coal tar induces AHR-dependent skin barrier repair in atopic dermatitis

Ellen H. van den Bogaard, Judith G.M. Bergboer, Mieke Vonk-Bergers, et al.

Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2013

Highly cited for its field

Cited by 375

Filaggrin Proteins
Administration, Topical
Cell Differentiation

106. The isolation of a cancer-producing hydrocarbon from coal tar. Parts I, II, and III

J. W. Cook, C. L. Hewett, I. Hieger

Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed), 1933

Highly cited for its field

Cited by 303

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

go.drugbank.com

Key facts

Drug status

Approved

Major interactions

None known

Half-life

Not available

Mechanism

Coal tar ointment is a keratolytic.

Food interactions

None known

Human targets

None mapped

Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0

Pharmacokinetics at a glance

Absorption

Intended for local use only, no systemic absorption.

Half-life

Intended for local use only, no systemic absorption.

Protein binding

Intended for local use only, no systemic absorption.

Volume of distribution

Intended for local use only, no systemic absorption.

Metabolism

Intended for local use only, no systemic absorption.

Elimination

Intended for local use only, no systemic absorption.

Clearance

Intended for local use only, no systemic absorption.

Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0

Status:

Approved

Small molecule

About this compound

Coal tar is a brown or black liquid of extremely high viscosity. Coal tar is among the by-products when coal is carbonized to make coke or gasified to make coal gas. Coal tars are complex and variable mixtures of phenols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heterocyclic compounds.

It has been indicated for local relief of itching, dryness, and irritation caused by psoriasis, seborrhea and eczema.

DrugBank indication

Relieving itching, irritation, redness, dryness, scaling, and flaking of the skin caused by psoriasis, seborrhea, or eczema.

Also known as(3)

Coal tar

Coal tars

Tar, coal

Toxicity & overdose

LD50: Not available.

How it works

Mechanism of action

Coal tar ointment is a keratolytic. It works by slowing bacterial growth and loosening and softening scales and crust.

Pharmacodynamics

Decrease bacterial growth.

Pharmacokinetics

How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination

Absorption

Intended for local use only, no systemic absorption.

Half-life

Intended for local use only, no systemic absorption.

Protein binding

Intended for local use only, no systemic absorption.

Volume of distribution

Intended for local use only, no systemic absorption.

Metabolism

Intended for local use only, no systemic absorption.

Route of elimination

Intended for local use only, no systemic absorption.

Clearance

Intended for local use only, no systemic absorption.

Affected organisms(1)

Humans and other mammals

Chemical identifiers

CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references

Show

Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Coal tar

DB11082

CAS number

8007-45-2

UNII (FDA)

R533ESO2EC

Additional database identifiers

Drugs Product Database (DPD)

6849

PubChem Substance

347911108

Wikipedia

Coal_tar

RxCUI

2635

DrugBank citations

If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite:

DrugBank 6.02024Recommended citation
Knox C., Wilson M., Klinger C.M., et al
DrugBank 6.
0: the DrugBank Knowledgebase for 2024
Nucleic Acids Res. 2024 Jan 552(D1):D1265-D1275
PMID: 37953279
DrugBank 5.02018
Wishart D.S., Feunang Y.D., Guo A.C., et al
DrugBank 5.
0: a major update to the DrugBank database for 2018
Nucleic Acids Res. 2017 Nov 846(D1):D1074-D1082
PMID: 29126136
DrugBank 4.02014
Law V., Knox C., Djoumbou Y., et al
DrugBank 4.
0: shedding new light on drug metabolism
Nucleic Acids Res. 2014 Jan 142(1):D1091-7
PMID: 24203711
DrugBank 3.02011
Knox C., Law V., Jewison T., et al
DrugBank 3.
0: a comprehensive resource for 'omics' research on drugs
Nucleic Acids Res. 2011 Jan39(Database issue):D1035-41
PMID: 21059682
DrugBank 2.02008
Wishart D.S., Knox C., Guo A.C., et al
DrugBank: a knowledgebase for drugs, drug actions and drug targets.
Nucleic Acids Research
2008 Jan36(Database issue):D901-6
PMID: 18048412
DrugBank 1.02006
Wishart D.S., Knox C., Guo A.C., et al
DrugBank: a comprehensive resource for in silico drug discovery and exploration.
Nucleic Acids Research
2006 Jan 134(Database issue):D668-72
PMID: 16381955

Source: go.drugbank.comCC BY-NC 4.0

Updated 4 Mar 2026

Coal tar 5% in Generic Unguentum M cream

Safety & regulatory

Official medicine documents

Safety monitoring data

Yellow Card reports

EudraVigilance

Brand versions and licensed products

Medicines like this

Prescribing statistics

NICE clinical guidance

NICE clinical guidance(1)

Availability, stocks & shortages

Pharmacy stock checkers

Supply & safety information

Professional identifiers

NHS UK identifiers

Clinical trials

Research & evidence

DrugBank data

Key facts

Pharmacokinetics at a glance

Absorption

Half-life

Protein binding

Volume of distribution

Metabolism

Elimination

Clearance

Clinical essentials

Pharmacology

Deep science

Chemical identifiers

Coal tar

Additional database identifiers

DrugBank citations

Coal tar 5% in Generic Unguentum M cream

Safety & regulatory

Official medicine documents

Safety monitoring data

Yellow Card reports

EudraVigilance

Brand versions and licensed products

Medicines like this

Prescribing statistics

NICE clinical guidance

NICE clinical guidance(1)

Availability, stocks & shortages

Pharmacy stock checkers

Supply & safety information

Professional identifiers

NHS UK identifiers

Clinical trials

Research & evidence

DrugBank data

Key facts

Pharmacokinetics at a glance

Absorption

Half-life

Protein binding

Volume of distribution

Metabolism

Elimination

Clearance

Clinical essentials

Pharmacology

Deep science

Chemical identifiers

Coal tar

Additional database identifiers

DrugBank citations