Miglustat 65mg capsules
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
Miglustat, commonly marketed under the trade name Zavesca, is a drug used to treat Gaucher disease.
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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 Miglustat
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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
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Miglustat
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1 branded products available
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View all licensed products for Miglustat on the MHRA register
Opfolda 65mg 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(1)
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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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
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NHS UK identifiers
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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: 14 · Randomised trials: 7 · 2003–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
Marc C Patterson, Darleen Vecchio, Helena Prady, et al.
The Lancet Neurology, 2007
Raphael Schiffmann, Edmond J. FitzGibbon, Chris Harris, et al.
Annals of Neurology, 2008
Shohet S, Hummel N, Fu S, et al.
2024
- Glycogen Storage Disease Type II
- 1-Deoxynojirimycin
- Enzyme Replacement Therapy
M. Pineda, M. Walterfang, M. Patterson
Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases, 2018
Shuai Fu, Noemi Hummel, Simon Shohet, et al.
Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research, 2026
- Glycogen Storage Disease Type II
- 1-Deoxynojirimycin
- alpha-Glucosidases
B. Schoser, M. Roberts, B. Byrne, et al.
The Lancet. Neurology, 2021
van der Beek NAME, Potters LH, Schoser B
2025
- Glycogen Storage Disease Type II
- alpha-Glucosidases
- Enzyme Replacement Therapy
Purpose of reviewTo review the clinical trial results and emerging real-world data of two new enzyme replacement therapies (ERTs) for late-onset Pompe disease and to compare these effects in the context of what has been achieved over the last two decades in advancing care for Pompe disease.Recent findingsRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) of avalglucosidase alfa and cipaglucosidase alfa plus miglustat have demonstrated that both treatments are at least as efficacious as alglucosidase alfa and possess a comparable safety profile. Several post hoc analyses of the trial data have shown that these newer ERTs result in a greater percentage of patients achieving meaningful improvements and larger reductions in biomarker levels. The first real-world data on switching from alglucosidase alfa to avalglucosidase alfa has shown that the switch is safe and may alter individual disease trajectories.SummaryThe advent of two next-generation enzyme replacement therapies marks a new era in treating patients diagnosed with Pompe disease. Clinical trials and early real-world data suggest that they may be superior to alglucosidase alfa, the standard of care for the past 20 years, although head-to-head comparisons between all three treatments are lacking. More data will become available over the next 5 years, leading to better guidelines for starting, stopping and switching therapies based on a more personalized assessment of outcomes.
Abstract licence: CC BY
Mengel E, Patterson MC, Da Riol RM, et al.
2025
BackgroundIn the 12-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2/3 NPC-002 study (NCT02612129), arimoclomol significantly reduced annual disease progression versus placebo, measured by the 5-domain NPC Clinical Severity Scale (5DNPCCSS). Arimoclomol has been approved in the US for treatment of Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC) in combination with miglustat. This paper introduces the rescored 4-domain NPCCSS (R4DNPCCSS) as a post-hoc primary endpoint in NPC-002, discusses its validation, and presents the results of the post-hoc primary analysis.MethodsTo more accurately assess changes in disease course over a 12-month time period in a heterogeneous group of patients, the Cognition domain was removed from the 5DNPCCSS and the Swallow domain was rescored to reflect linearity in disease progression. Rescoring of the Swallow domain was based on input from clinical NPC and swallow experts from a qualitative interview-based study (N = 12), resulting in the R4DNPCCSS. To supplement prior validation analyses, data supporting the overall validity and reliability of the R4DNPCCSS was gathered through additional analyses of construct and convergent validity. The NPC-002 prespecified primary efficacy endpoint analysis based on the 5DNPCCSS score change from baseline to 12 months was repeated with R4DNPCCSS.ResultsConstruct validity analysis demonstrated high agreement between the R4DNPCCSS domain scores and the Clinical Global Impression Scale of Severity (CGI-S) and NPC Clinical Database (NPC-cdb) scores. Convergent validity was confirmed by strong correlations between the R4DNPCCSS domains and corresponding items on the Scale for Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA), 9-hole peg test (9-HPT), and Video Fluoroscopic Swallowing Study (VFSS) performance tests. The NPC-002 post-hoc primary analysis showed a mean standard error (SE) change in R4DNPCCSS score of 0.35 (0.40) with arimoclomol (N = 34) versus 2.05 (0.54) with placebo (N = 16), and a treatment effect in favor of arimoclomol over placebo of -1.70 (p = 0.0155). In the miglustat subgroup analysis, mean (SE) change in R4DNPCCSS score was -0.23 (1.02) with arimoclomol (N = 22) versus 1.92 (3.37) with placebo (N = 12), representing a treatment effect of -2.21 (p = 0.0077).ConclusionThe R4DNPCCSS is a valid and reliable measure of disease progression demonstrating consistent outcomes with the prespecified 5DNPCCSS endpoint. Arimoclomol significantly slowed disease progression through 12 months as measured by the R4DNPCCSS versus placebo.
Abstract licence: CC BY
E. Mengel, Adrian A. Quartel, C. Dali
Molecular Genetics and Metabolism, 2026
D. Elstein, C. Hollak, J. M. F. G. Aerts, et al.
Journal of Inherited Metabolic Disease, 2004
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
6 to 7 hours
Mechanism
Miglustat functions as a competitive and reversible inhibitor of the enzyme gluc…
Food interactions
2 warnings
Human targets
1 target
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
97%
Half-life
6 to 7 hours
Protein binding
Metabolism
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
PMID:1532799 PMID:8643456
Catalyzes the transfer of glucose from UDP-glucose to ceramide to produce glucosylceramide/GlcCer (such as beta-D-glucosyl-(1<->1')-N-acylsphing-4-enine) .
PMID:1532799 PMID:8643456
GlcCer is the core component of glycosphingolipids/GSLs, amphipathic molecules consisting of a ceramide lipid moiety embedded in the outer leaflet of the membrane, linked to one of hundreds of different externally oriented oligosaccharide structures .
PMID:8643456
Glycosphingolipids are essential components of membrane microdomains that mediate membrane trafficking and signal transduction, implicated in many fundamental cellular processes, including growth, differentiation, migration, morphogenesis, cell-to-cell and cell-to-matrix interactions (By similarity). They are required for instance in the proper development and functioning of the nervous system (By similarity). As an example of their role in signal transduction, they regulate the leptin receptor/LEPR in the leptin-mediated signaling pathway (By similarity).
They also play an important role in the establishment of the skin barrier regulating keratinocyte differentiation and the proper assembly of the cornified envelope (By similarity). The biosynthesis of GSLs is also required for the proper intestinal endocytic uptake of nutritional lipids (By similarity). Catalyzes the synthesis of xylosylceramide/XylCer (such as beta-D-xylosyl-(1<->1')-N-acylsphing-4-enine) using UDP-Xyl as xylose donor PMID:33361282
ATC A16AX06
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)
Miglustat
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
13313
ChemSpider
46764
BindingDB
18355
PDB
NBV
ZINC
ZINC000003794711
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:12524
GenAtlas
UGCG
GeneCards
UGCG
GenBank Gene Database
D50840
GenBank Protein Database
1325917
Guide to Pharmacology
2528
UniProt Accession
CEGT_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