Interferon alfa-2b 3million unit powder and solvent for solution for injection vials
Interferon alpha 2b (human leukocyte clone hif-sn 206 protein moiety reduced).
Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring
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Official medicine documents
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Drug safety updates
MHRA alerts for Interferon alfa-2b
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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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 Interferon alfa-2b
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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.
1 branded products available
Part of the Viraferon brand family (generic: Interferon alfa-2b)
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Interferon alfa-2b on the MHRA register
IntronA 3million unit powder and solvent for solution for injection vials
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)
Interferon alfa (pegylated and non-pegylated) and ribavirin for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (TA75)
Peginterferon alfa and ribavirin for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (TA200)
Peginterferon alfa and ribavirin for treating chronic hepatitis C in children and young people (TA300)
Peginterferon alfa and ribavirin for the treatment of mild chronic hepatitis C (TA106)
Sofosbuvir for treating chronic hepatitis C (TA330)
Brentuximab vedotin for treating CD30-positive cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (TA577)
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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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. 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: 6 · Randomised trials: 27 · 1990–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
J. M. Kirkwood, M. H. Strawderman, M. Ernstoff, et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2023
R. Carithers, S. Emerson
Hepatology, 1997
H. Janssen, Monika van Zonneveld, H. Senturk, et al.
Lancet, 2005
F. Carrat, F. Bani-Sadr, S. Pol, et al.
JAMA, 2004
K. Lindsay, C. Trépo, T. Heintges, et al.
Hepatology, 2001
Stefan S. Bielack, S. Smeland, Jeremy Whelan, et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2015
R. Perrillo, E. Schiff, G. Davis, et al.
The New England Journal of Medicine, 1990
A. Eggermont, S. Suciu, M. Santinami, et al.
Lancet, 2008
S. Rosenberg, J. Yang, D. Schwartzentruber, et al.
Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 1999
A. Eggermont, S. Suciu, R. MacKie, et al.
Lancet, 2005
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
2 to 3 hours
Mechanism
Interferon alpha binds to type I interferon receptors (IFNAR1 and IFNAR2c) which…
Food interactions
1 warning
Human targets
3 targets
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
80%
Half-life
2 to 3 hours
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Known interactions with other medicines. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 699 interactions
Hepatic enzyme abnormalities, renal failure, hemorrhage, and myocardial infarction have been reported with single administration overdoses and/or with longer durations of treatment than prescribed. Toxic effects after ingestion of interferon alfa-2b are not expected because interferons are poorly absorbed orally.
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
PMID:10049744 PMID:10556041 PMID:21854986 PMID:26424569 PMID:28165510 PMID:32972995 PMID:7665574 PMID:7759950 PMID:8181059 PMID:8798579 PMID:8969169
Type I interferon binding activates the JAK-STAT signaling cascade, resulting in transcriptional activation or repression of interferon-regulated genes that encode the effectors of the interferon response .
PMID:10049744 PMID:17517919 PMID:21854986 PMID:26424569 PMID:28165510 PMID:32972995 PMID:7665574 PMID:7759950 PMID:8181059 PMID:8798579 PMID:8969169
Mechanistically, type I interferon-binding brings the IFNAR1 and IFNAR2 subunits into close proximity with one another, driving their associated Janus kinases (JAKs) (TYK2 bound to IFNAR1 and JAK1 bound to IFNAR2) to cross-phosphorylate one another .
PMID:10556041 PMID:11682488 PMID:12105218 PMID:21854986 PMID:32972995
The activated kinases phosphorylate specific tyrosine residues on the intracellular domains of IFNAR1 and IFNAR2, forming docking sites for the STAT transcription factors (STAT1, STAT2 and STAT) .
PMID:11682488 PMID:12105218 PMID:21854986 PMID:32972995
STAT proteins are then phosphorylated by the JAKs, promoting their translocation into the nucleus to regulate expression of interferon-regulated genes PMID:12105218 PMID:28165510 PMID:9121453
PMID:10049744 PMID:14532120 PMID:15337770 PMID:2153461 PMID:21854986 PMID:24075985 PMID:31270247 PMID:33252644 PMID:35442418 PMID:7813427
Type I interferon binding activates the JAK-STAT signaling cascade, resulting in transcriptional activation or repression of interferon-regulated genes that encode the effectors of the interferon response .
PMID:10049744 PMID:21854986 PMID:7665574
Mechanistically, type I interferon-binding brings the IFNAR1 and IFNAR2 subunits into close proximity with one another, driving their associated Janus kinases (JAKs) (TYK2 bound to IFNAR1 and JAK1 bound to IFNAR2) to cross-phosphorylate one another .
PMID:21854986 PMID:32972995 PMID:7665574 PMID:7813427
The activated kinases phosphorylate specific tyrosine residues on the intracellular domains of IFNAR1 and IFNAR2, forming docking sites for the STAT transcription factors .
PMID:21854986 PMID:32972995 PMID:7526154 PMID:7665574 PMID:7813427
STAT proteins are then phosphorylated by the JAKs, promoting their translocation into the nucleus to regulate expression of interferon-regulated genes .
PMID:19561067 PMID:21854986 PMID:32972995 PMID:7665574 PMID:7813427 PMID:9121453
Can also act independently of IFNAR2: form an active IFNB1 receptor by itself and activate a signaling cascade that does not involve activation of the JAK-STAT pathway (By similarity)
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
ATC L03AB05
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)
Interferon alfa-2b
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
1751
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:5433
GenAtlas
IFNAR2
GeneCards
IFNAR2
GenBank Gene Database
L42243
GenBank Protein Database
995300
UniProt Accession
INAR2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:5432
GenAtlas
IFNAR1
GeneCards
IFNAR1
GenBank Gene Database
J03171
GenBank Protein Database
306914
Guide to Pharmacology
1723
UniProt Accession
INAR1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:5423
GenAtlas
IFNA2
GeneCards
IFNA2
GenBank Gene Database
M29883
UniProt Accession
IFNA2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2596
GenAtlas
CYP1A2
GeneCards
CYP1A2
GenBank Gene Database
Z00036
Guide to Pharmacology
1319
UniProt Accession
CP1A2_HUMAN
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite:
- DrugBank 6.02024Recommended citationKnox C., Wilson M., Klinger C.M., et alDrugBank 6.0: the DrugBank Knowledgebase for 2024Nucleic Acids Res. 2024 Jan 552(D1):D1265-D1275
- DrugBank 5.02018Wishart D.S., Feunang Y.D., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank 5.0: a major update to the DrugBank database for 2018Nucleic Acids Res. 2017 Nov 846(D1):D1074-D1082
- DrugBank 4.02014Law V., Knox C., Djoumbou Y., et alDrugBank 4.0: shedding new light on drug metabolismNucleic Acids Res. 2014 Jan 142(1):D1091-7
- DrugBank 3.02011Knox C., Law V., Jewison T., et alDrugBank 3.0: a comprehensive resource for 'omics' research on drugsNucleic Acids Res. 2011 Jan39(Database issue):D1035-41
- DrugBank 2.02008Wishart D.S., Knox C., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank: a knowledgebase for drugs, drug actions and drug targets.Nucleic Acids Research2008 Jan36(Database issue):D901-6
- DrugBank 1.02006Wishart D.S., Knox C., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank: a comprehensive resource for in silico drug discovery and exploration.Nucleic Acids Research2006 Jan 134(Database issue):D668-72