Nifurtimox 120mg tablets
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
Chagas disease, caused by a parasite known as Trypanosoma cruzi (T.cruzi), is a vector-transmitted disease affecting animals and humans in the Americas.
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Safety monitoring 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.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Nifurtimox
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1 branded products available
WHO defined daily dose (DDD)
700 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 NHS dm+d BNF mapping files. 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
Nifurtimox
Source: British National Formulary, NICE. Joint Formulary Committee. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
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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
None known
Half-life
2.4–3.6 hours
Mechanism
The mechanism of action of nifurtimox has not been fully elucidated, however, is…
Food interactions
2 warnings
Human targets
None mapped
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
1676-2670 μg
[L15361]…
Half-life
2.4–3.6 hours
[L15361]…
Protein binding
42%
[L15361]
It is primarily bound to albumin.
[A216931]
Volume of distribution
[A216931][L15361]
Metabolism
Elimination
44%
Clearance
193.4 l
[A217936]
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
The CDC estimates that approximately 8 million people in Central America, South America, and Mexico are infected with T. cruzi, without symptoms. If Chagas disease is left untreated, life-threatening sequelae may result.[L15366]
Nifurtimox, developed by Bayer, is a nitrofuran antiprotozoal drug used in the treatment of Chagas disease. On August 6 2020, accelerated FDA approval was granted for its use in pediatric patients in response to promising results from phase III clinical trials. Continued approval will be contingent upon confirmatory data.[L15361] A convenient feature of Bayer's formulation is the ability to divide the scored tablets manually without the need for pill-cutting devices.[L15361]
[L45449]
[A217891]
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
[L15361]
One pharmacokinetic study of healthy volunteers revealed an AUC of 5430 ng∙ml-1∙h.
[A217936]
Cmax ranges between 425-568 μg/L (26–50%) after a single dose of 20 mg with food in adults. Tmax is 4 hours, ranging from 2 to 8 hours post-dose in the fed state.
[A217936][L15361]
In a pharmacokinetic study of healthy volunteers, serum concentration was low, likely due to the first-pass effect.
[A216926]
[L15361]
A pharmacokinetic study of healthy volunteers and patients with renal failure revealed respective mean half-lives of 2.95 h and 3.95 h.
[A217936]
[L15361]
It is primarily bound to albumin.
[A216931]
[A216931][L15361]
[A217986][L15361]
[L15361]
[A217936]
Proteins that transport this drug across cell membranes
PMID:11306452 PMID:12958161 PMID:19506252 PMID:20705604 PMID:28554189 PMID:30405239 PMID:31003562
Involved in porphyrin homeostasis, mediating the export of protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) from both mitochondria to cytosol and cytosol to extracellular space, it also functions in the cellular export of heme .
PMID:20705604 PMID:23189181
Also mediates the efflux of sphingosine-1-P from cells .
PMID:20110355
Acts as a urate exporter functioning in both renal and extrarenal urate excretion .
PMID:19506252 PMID:20368174 PMID:22132962 PMID:31003562 PMID:36749388
In kidney, it also functions as a physiological exporter of the uremic toxin indoxyl sulfate (By similarity). Also involved in the excretion of steroids like estrone 3-sulfate/E1S, 3beta-sulfooxy-androst-5-en-17-one/DHEAS, and other sulfate conjugates .
PMID:12682043 PMID:28554189 PMID:30405239
Mediates the secretion of the riboflavin and biotin vitamins into milk (By similarity). Extrudes pheophorbide a, a phototoxic porphyrin catabolite of chlorophyll, reducing its bioavailability (By similarity).
Plays an important role in the exclusion of xenobiotics from the brain (Probable). It confers to cells a resistance to multiple drugs and other xenobiotics including mitoxantrone, pheophorbide, camptothecin, methotrexate, azidothymidine, and the anthracyclines daunorubicin and doxorubicin, through the control of their efflux .
PMID:11306452 PMID:12477054 PMID:15670731 PMID:18056989 PMID:31254042
In placenta, it limits the penetration of drugs from the maternal plasma into the fetus (By similarity). May play a role in early stem cell self-renewal by blocking differentiation (By similarity).
In inflammatory macrophages, exports itaconate from the cytosol to the extracellular compartment and limits the activation of TFEB-dependent lysosome biogenesis involved in antibacterial innate immune response
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 P01CC01
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)
Nifurtimox
Additional database identifiers
ChemSpider
5246596
BindingDB
50259708
GenBank Gene Database
X52898
GenBank Protein Database
10609
UniProt Accession
G3PG_TRYCR
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:399
GenAtlas
ALB
GeneCards
ALB
GenBank Gene Database
V00494
GenBank Protein Database
28590
UniProt Accession
ALBU_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:74
GenAtlas
ABCG2
GeneCards
ABCG2
GenBank Gene Database
AF103796
GenBank Protein Database
4185796
Guide to Pharmacology
792
UniProt Accession
ABCG2_HUMAN
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite the following publications: