Mycophenolic acid 180mg gastro-resistant tablets
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
Mycophenolic acid is a potent immunosuppressant agent that inhibits <em>de novo</em> purine biosynthesis.[L42165] It was derived from <em>Penicillium stoloniferum</em>, and has also shown antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties.[A249170].
Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring
Report a side effect
Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA
Official medicine documents
Yellow Card
Report side effects (MHRA)
Drug safety updates
MHRA alerts for Mycophenolic acid
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.
View Drug Analysis Profile
Suspected adverse reactions reported for Mycophenolic acid
Browse all iDAP reports
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 Mycophenolic acid
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.
4 branded products available
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Mycophenolic acid on the MHRA register
Ceptava 180mg gastro-resistant tablets
Myfortic 180mg gastro-resistant tablets
Mycophenolic acid 180mg gastro-resistant tablets
Mycophenolic acid 180mg gastro-resistant 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)
2 gram
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 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(3)
Immunosuppressive therapy for kidney transplant in adults (TA481)
Immunosuppressive therapy for kidney transplant in children and young people (TA482)
Prevention of recurrence of C3 glomerulopathy post-transplant: eculizumab (ESUOM44)
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. 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: 23 · Randomised trials: 2 · 1969–2025
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
A. Leino, John Takyi-Williams, M. Pai
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, 2023
Wuttiputhanun T, Naiyarakseree N, Udomkarnjananun S, et al.
2024
- Lupus Nephritis
- Mycophenolic Acid
- Immunosuppressive Agents
IntroductionMycophenolic acid (MPA) is a primary immunosuppressive agent used in the treatment of lupus nephritis (LN). While therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of MPA is well established in organ transplantation, its role in LN treatment remains uncertain. Our objective was to review and summarise current knowledge on TDM of MPA in the LN treatment.MethodsA systematic search was conducted in the online databases, specifically targeted patients diagnosed with LN receiving MPA treatment. The included studies had to report both MPA pharmacokinetic parameters and renal outcomes. A random-effects model meta-analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between clinical responses and MPA pharmacokinetics.ResultsA total of 1507 studies were initially screened, resulting in the inclusion of 16 studies for meta-analysis, encompassing 433 patients. The response group exhibited significantly higher MPA area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) compared with the non-response group (51.44±21.73 mg·h/L vs 30.30±16.24 mg·h/L). The weighted mean difference (WMD) of MPA-AUC between responders and non-responders was 16.83 mg·h/L (95% CI 10.59 to 23.06; p0) of MPA showed a strong association with renal response, evidenced by C0 values of 2.50±1.73 mg/L in the response group vs 1.51±1.33 mg/L in the non-response group (WMD 1.37 mg/L; 95% CI 0.77 to 1.97; pConclusionThis meta-analysis emphasised the meaningful correlation between MPA AUC and C0 with renal response in LN treatment. Randomised controlled trials are necessary to validate this approach and determine its superiority over fixed dosing in the context of LN treatment.
Abstract licence: CC BY-NC
Liu S, Chen H, Song Z, et al.
2025
- Mycophenolic Acid
- Immunosuppressive Agents
- Drug Monitoring
Faouzi Saliba, C. Duvoux, J. Gugenheim, et al.
American Journal of Transplantation, 2017
P. Fallahi, S. Ferrari, F. Ragusa, et al.
Journal of the Endocrine Society, 2021
A. Frymoyer, D. Verotta, P. Jacobson, et al.
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 2013
T J Franklin, Jennifer M. Cook
Biochemical Journal, 1969
Brit J. Hart, J. Dyall, E. Postnikova, et al.
The Journal of general virology, 2014
D. Metz, N. Holford, J. Kausman, et al.
Transplantation, 2014
K. Cheng, Shu‐Chun Cheng, Wei-Yi Chen, et al.
Antiviral Research, 2014
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
16 hours
Mechanism
Mycophenolic acid is a selective noncompetitive and reversible inhibitor of inos…
Food interactions
1 warning
Human targets
2 targets
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
360 mg
Half-life
16 hours
Protein binding
98%
[L42165]
Volume of distribution
54 L
Metabolism
Elimination
60%
[L42165]
…
Clearance
140 mL/min
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
[L42165]
Known interactions with other medicines. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 1274 interactions
[L42165]
It may be appropriate to interrupt or discontinue mycophenolic acid if blood dyscrasias occur.
Some of the signs and symptoms associated with mycophenolic acid overdose are hematological abnormalities, such as leukopenia and neutropenia, and gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, and dyspepsia.
[L42165]
Carcinogenicity studies of 104 weeks done in rats and mice, suggest that mycophenolate sodium does not induce the formation of tumours. Rats were given up to 9 mg/kg of mycophenolate sodium, which corresponded to 0.6-1.2 times the systemic exposure observed in renal transplant patients, while mice were given 180 mg/kg, an equivalent of 0.6 times the mycophenolate sodium therapeutic dose.
[L42165]
The genotoxicity of mycophenolate sodium was confirmed by the mouse lymphoma/thymidine kinase assay, the micronucleus test in V79 Chinese hamster cells, and the in vivo mouse micronucleus assay. Mycophenolate mofetil, a prodrug of mycophenolic acid, had a similar genotoxic profile.
At daily oral doses as high as 18 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg, mycophenolate sodium had no effect on male and female rat fertility, respectively.
[L42165]
The oral LD50 of mycophenolic acid is 352 mg/kg in rats and 1000 mg/kg in mice.
[L42180]
Patients treated with mycophenolic acid have a higher risk of developing new or reactivated viral infections, serious infections, blood dyscrasias (including pure red cell aplasia), serious gastrointestinal tract complications, acute inflammatory syndrome associated with mycophenolate products, lymphoma, and other malignancies.[L42165] The use of mycophenolic acid is also associated with an increased risk of first-trimester pregnancy loss and congenital malformations. Mycophenolic acid should be avoided in patients with rare hereditary deficiency of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl-transferase (HGPRT). Patients treated with mycophenolic acid should not receive live attenuated vaccines or donate blood or semen.[L42165]
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
[L42165]
In renal transplant patients, the median delay (Tlag) in the rise of mycophenolic acid concentration ranged between 0.25 and 1.25 hours, and the Tmax ranged between 1.5 and 2.75 hours.
Adult renal transplant patients on cyclosporine given mycophenolic acid had a Tmax of 2 h, a Cmax of 26.1 μg/mL, and an AUC0-12 of 66.5 μg⋅h/mL. Stable pediatric (5-16 years old) renal transplant patients had a Cmax and AUC 33% and 18% higher than the ones detected in adults.
[L42165]
In stable renal transplant patients treated with cyclosporine, the gastrointestinal absorption and absolute bioavailability of delayed-release tablets of mycophenolic acid were 93% and 72%, respectively.
[L42165]
Following the administration of a high-fat meal (55 g fat, 1000 calories), the AUC of mycophenolic acid (enteric-coated tablets, 720 mg) was comparable to the one detected during fasting. However, a high-fat meal can lead to a 33% decrease of the Cmax, a 3.5-hour delay in the Tlag (range of -6 to 18 hours), and a 5.0-hour delay in the Tmax (range of -9 to 20 hours).
To avoid variability in the absorption of mycophenolic acid, this drug should be taken on an empty stomach.
[L42165]
[L42165]
[L42165]
[L42165]
The AUC ratio of mycophenolic acid:MPAG:acyl glucuronide is approximately 1:24:0.28 at a steady state.
[L42165]
[L42165]
MPAG is also secreted in the bile and is available for deconjugation by gut flora. The mycophenolic acid that results from MPAG deconjugation may be reabsorbed and produce a second peak 6-8 hours after administration.
[L42165]
[L42165]
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
PMID:7763314 PMID:7903306
Could also have a single-stranded nucleic acid-binding activity and could play a role in RNA and/or DNA metabolism .
PMID:14766016
It may also have a role in the development of malignancy and the growth progression of some tumors
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
Proteins that carry this drug through the body
PMID:19021548
Major calcium and magnesium transporter in plasma, binds approximately 45% of circulating calcium and magnesium in plasma (By similarity).
Potentially has more than two calcium-binding sites and might additionally bind calcium in a non-specific manner (By similarity). The shared binding site between zinc and calcium at residue Asp-273 suggests a crosstalk between zinc and calcium transport in the blood (By similarity). The rank order of affinity is zinc > calcium > magnesium (By similarity).
Binds to the bacterial siderophore enterobactin and inhibits enterobactin-mediated iron uptake of E.coli from ferric transferrin, and may thereby limit the utilization of iron and growth of enteric bacteria such as E.coli .
PMID:6234017
Does not prevent iron uptake by the bacterial siderophore aerobactin PMID:6234017
ATC L04AA06
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)
Mycophenolic acid
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
2139
ChemSpider
393865
BindingDB
19264
PDB
MOA
ZINC
ZINC000000001758
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:6053
GenAtlas
IMPDH2
GeneCards
IMPDH2
GenBank Gene Database
J04208
GenBank Protein Database
307066
Guide to Pharmacology
2625
UniProt Accession
IMDH2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:6052
GenAtlas
IMPDH1
GeneCards
IMPDH1
GenBank Gene Database
J05272
GenBank Protein Database
307067
Guide to Pharmacology
2624
UniProt Accession
IMDH1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:12554
GeneCards
UGT2B7
GenBank Gene Database
J05428
GenBank Protein Database
340080
UniProt Accession
UD2B7_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:12540
GeneCards
UGT1A8
GenBank Gene Database
AF030310
GenBank Protein Database
2613044
UniProt Accession
UD18_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:12541
GeneCards
UGT1A9
GenBank Gene Database
S55985
GenBank Protein Database
7690346
UniProt Accession
UD19_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
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:12539
GeneCards
UGT1A7
UniProt Accession
UD17_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:12531
GeneCards
UGT1A10
GenBank Gene Database
U89508
GenBank Protein Database
2039362
UniProt Accession
UD110_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:12538
GeneCards
UGT1A6
UniProt Accession
UD16_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2637
GenAtlas
CYP3A4
GeneCards
CYP3A4
GenBank Gene Database
M18907
Guide to Pharmacology
1337
UniProt Accession
CP3A4_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2638
GenAtlas
CYP3A5
GeneCards
CYP3A5
GenBank Gene Database
J04813
GenBank Protein Database
181346
Guide to Pharmacology
1338
UniProt Accession
CP3A5_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2622
GenAtlas
CYP2C8
GeneCards
CYP2C8
GenBank Gene Database
M17397
Guide to Pharmacology
1325
UniProt Accession
CP2C8_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:399
GenAtlas
ALB
GeneCards
ALB
GenBank Gene Database
V00494
GenBank Protein Database
28590
UniProt Accession
ALBU_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