Minoxidil 5mg tablets
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
A potent direct-acting peripheral vasodilator (vasodilator agents) that reduces peripheral resistance and produces a fall in blood pressure.
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 Minoxidil
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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 Minoxidil
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.
8 branded products available
Part of the Regaine brand family (generic: Minoxidil)
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Minoxidil on the MHRA register
Loniten 5mg tablets
Loniten 5mg tablets
Minoxidil 5mg tablets
Minoxidil 5mg tablets
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)
20 mg
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(1)
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: 27 · Randomised trials: 22 · 1996–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
Pietro Gentile, Simone Garcovich
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2020
- Stem Cell Transplantation
- Platelet-Rich Plasma
- Adult Stem Cells
Elise A. Olsen, Frank Dunlap, Toni Funicella, et al.
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2002
- Administration, Topical
- Alopecia
- Drug Tolerance
Anne W. Lucky, Daniel Piacquadio, Chérie M. Ditre, et al.
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2004
- Administration, Topical
- Alopecia
- Hair
Elise A. Olsen, David Whiting, Wilma F. Bergfeld, et al.
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2007
- Administration, Topical
- Alopecia
- Hair
P Vexiau, C Chaspoux, Philippe Boudou, et al.
British Journal of Dermatology, 2002
- Administration, Topical
- Alopecia
- Androgen Antagonists
Ajay Sharma, Lauren Michelle, Margit Juhász, et al.
International Journal of Dermatology, 2020
- Alopecia Areata
- Hypertrichosis
- Administration, Topical
Aditya Gupta, M. Venkataraman, Mesbah Talukder, et al.
JAMA Dermatology, 2022
- Minoxidil
- Dutasteride
- Network Meta-Analysis
Michael Randolph, Antonellá Tosti
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2020
- Alopecia
- Minoxidil
- Medication Adherence
Poonkiat Suchonwanit, Sasima Thammarucha, Kanchana Leerunyakul
Drug Design Development and Therapy, 2019
Aditya K. Gupta, Mesbah Talukder, M. Venkataraman, et al.
Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 2021
- Alopecia Areata
- Minoxidil
- Administration, Topical
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
10 found
Half-life
4.2 hours
Mechanism
Minoxidil is thought to promote the survival of human dermal papillary cells (DP…
Food interactions
1 warning
Human targets
2 targets
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
90%
Half-life
4.2 hours
Protein binding
Metabolism
90%
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 693 interactions
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
This channel is activated by internal ATP and can be blocked by external barium. In the kidney, probably plays a major role in potassium homeostasis
The insertion of a second molecule of O2 (bis-oxygenase activity) yields a hydroperoxy group in PGG2 that is then reduced to PGH2 by two electrons .
PMID:7947975
Involved in the constitutive production of prostanoids in particular in the stomach and platelets. In gastric epithelial cells, it is a key step in the generation of prostaglandins, such as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), which plays an important role in cytoprotection. In platelets, it is involved in the generation of thromboxane A2 (TXA2), which promotes platelet activation and aggregation, vasoconstriction and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (Probable).
Can also use linoleate (LA, (9Z,12Z)-octadecadienoate, C18:2(n-6)) as substrate and produce hydroxyoctadecadienoates (HODEs) in a regio- and stereospecific manner, being (9R)-HODE ((9R)-hydroxy-(10E,12Z)-octadecadienoate) and (13S)-HODE ((13S)-hydroxy-(9Z,11E)-octadecadienoate) its major products (By similarity)
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
ATC D11AX01
ATC C02DC01
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Show
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Minoxidil
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
2011
ChemSpider
10438564
BindingDB
50237593
PDB
MXD
Guide to Pharmacology
4254
ZINC
ZINC000000001735
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:6255
GenAtlas
KCNJ1
GeneCards
KCNJ1
GenBank Gene Database
U12541
GenBank Protein Database
529313
Guide to Pharmacology
429
UniProt Accession
KCNJ1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:9604
GenAtlas
PTGS1
GeneCards
PTGS1
GenBank Gene Database
M31822
GenBank Protein Database
387018
Guide to Pharmacology
1375
UniProt Accession
PGH1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:12530
GeneCards
UGT1A1
GenBank Gene Database
M57899
GenBank Protein Database
184473
Guide to Pharmacology
2990
UniProt Accession
UD11_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
Linked open data from Wikidata (Q424165), a free and open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication. WHO INN from the World Health Organization.