Minoxidil 5% foam
Available from pharmacies, supermarkets, and retail outlets
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.
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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.
2 branded products available
Part of the Regaine brand family (generic: Minoxidil)
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Minoxidil on the MHRA register
Regaine for Men Extra Strength 5% scalp foam
Regaine for Women Once a Day 5% scalp foam
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.
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and NHS BNF section grouping. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Clinical guidelines and formulary information
British National Formulary
Minoxidil
Source: British National Formulary, NICE. Joint Formulary Committee. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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 & product information
Official product databases and supply status monitoring
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. emc (electronic medicines compendium) is operated by Datapharm Ltd. Shortage information sourced from NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS), sps.nhs.uk.
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 codes from NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). 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.
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
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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)
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
International reference pricing
Reference pricing from DrugBank. Prices are indicative and may not reflect current UK costs.
Source: DrugBank. Used under CC BY-NC 4.0 academic licence for non-commercial purposes.
Patent information
All patents expired, 1 expired
Source: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0. Patent data sourced from national patent offices. Expiry dates may not reflect extensions, regulatory exclusivity periods, or legal challenges.
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite the following publications: