Colistimethate 1million unit powder for solution for injection vials
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
Cyclic polypeptide antibiotic from Bacillus colistinus.
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 Colistin
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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
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 Colistin
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.
6 branded products available
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Colistin on the MHRA register
Colomycin 1million unit powder for solution for injection vials
Colistimethate 1million unit powder for solution for injection vials
Colistimethate 1million unit powder for solution for injection vials
Colistimethate 1million unit powder for solution for injection vials
Colistimethate 1million unit powder for solution for injection vials
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.
WHO defined daily dose (DDD)
9 mega unit
Not a recommended dose. The DDD is the assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug used for its main indication in adults. It is a statistical measure used for research and comparison purposes only.
Source: WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology, distributed via the NHS dm+d supplementary BNF/ATC mapping files (NHSBSA). 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(6)
Antimicrobial prescribing: imipenem with cilastatin and relebactam (ES30)
Ceftazidime with avibactam for treating severe drug-resistant gram-negative bacterial infections (AMR1)
Cefiderocol for treating severe drug-resistant gram-negative bacterial infections (AMR2)
CFHealthHub for managing cystic fibrosis during the COVID-19 pandemic (MIB219)
eazyplex SuperBug kits for detecting carbapenemase-producing organisms (MIB94)
Otitis media with effusion in under 12s (NG233)
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: 31 · Randomised trials: 5 · 2001–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
Mical Paul, George L. Daikos, Emanuele Durante‐Mangoni, et al.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2018
- Meropenem
- Anti-Bacterial Agents
- Colistin
J. Motsch, Cláudia Murta de Oliveira, V.P. Stus, et al.
Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2019
- Bacterial Infections
- Imipenem
- Anti-Bacterial Agents
K. Kaye, A. Shorr, R. Wunderink, et al.
The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 2023
Jiating Liu, Feilong Zhu, Bimin Feng, et al.
Journal of global antimicrobial resistance, 2020
N. Bostanghadiri, Negar Narimisa, Maryam Mirshekar, et al.
Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control, 2024
Emanuele Durante‐Mangoni, Giuseppe Signoriello, Roberto Andini, et al.
Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2013
- Acinetobacter Infections
- Anti-Bacterial Agents
- Colistin
M.E. Hodson, C. G. Gallagher, John R. W. Govan
European Respiratory Journal, 2002
- Administration, Inhalation
- Aerosols
- Anti-Bacterial Agents
Aftab Hossain Mondal, Kriti Khare, Prachika Saxena, et al.
Microorganisms, 2024
Negar Narimisa, Abbasali Keshtkar, Leila Dadgar-Zankbar, et al.
Frontiers in Microbiology, 2024
Nadheema Hammood Hussein, Israa M.S. Al-Kadmy, Butheina Mohammed Taha, et al.
Molecular Biology Reports, 2021
- Genes, Bacterial
- Bacterial Proteins
- Colistin
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
23 found
Half-life
5 hours
Mechanism
Colistin is a surface active agent which penetrates into and disrupts the bacterial cell membrane.
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
None mapped
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
Half-life
5 hours
Metabolism
80%
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 875 interactions
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
ATC J01XB01
ATC A07AA10
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)
Colistin
Additional database identifiers
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 (Q25452548), a free and open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication.