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.
View Drug Analysis Profile
Suspected adverse reactions reported for Phenylephrine
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.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Phenylephrine
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.
3 branded products available
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
Phenylephrine
Source: British National Formulary, NICE. Joint Formulary Committee. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
NICE clinical guidance(2)
Cataracts in adults: management (NG77)
Caesarean birth (NG192)
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
1 found
Half-life
5 minutes
Mechanism
Phenylephrine is an alpha-1 adrenergic agonist that mediates vasoconstriction[A1…
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
4 targets
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
38%
[A187379]
Clinically significant systemic absorption of ophthalmic formulations is possible, especially at higher strengths and when the cornea is damaged.
[L9416]…
Half-life
5 minutes
[A187379][L9416][L9410]
Protein binding
[L9416][L9413][L9410]
Volume of distribution
340L
[L9416][L9410]
Metabolism
[A187382][A187385][L9416][L9410]…
Elimination
86%
[L9416][L9410]…
Clearance
2100mL/min
[L9416][L9410]
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Phenylephrine was granted FDA approval in 1939.[L9413]
[L9416][L9410]
The ophthalmic formulation is indicated to induce mydriasis [L9413][L46332] and conjunctival vasoconstriction.
[A187370]
The intranasal formulation is used to treat congestion, and a topical formulation is used to treat hemorrhoids.
[A187370]
Off-label uses include priapism and induction of local vasoconstriction.
[A187370]
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 1018 interactions
[L9416][L9413][L9410]
Overdose may be treated by supportive care and discontinuing phenylephrine, chronotropic medications, and vasodilators.
[A187370]
Subcutaneous phentolamine may be used to treat tissue extravasation.
[A187370][L9413]
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
[A187379]
Clinically significant systemic absorption of ophthalmic formulations is possible, especially at higher strengths and when the cornea is damaged.
[L9416]
[A187379][L9416][L9410]
[L9416][L9413][L9410]
[L9416][L9410]
[A187382][A187385][L9416][L9410]
The major metabolite is the inactive meta-hydroxymandelic acid, followed by sulfate conjugates.
[A187385][L9416][L9410]
Phenylephrine can also be metabolized to phenylephrine glucuronide.
[A187385]
[L9416][L9410]
[L9416][L9410]
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
PMID:21645528
Positively regulates postnatal regression of retinal hyaloid vessels via suppression of VEGFR2/KDR activity, downstream of OPN5 (By similarity)
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
ATC S01FB01
ATC R01AB01
ATC C01CA06
ATC R01AA04
ATC C05AX06
ATC S01FB51
ATC S01GA05
ATC R01BA53
ATC S01GA55
ATC R01BA03
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)
Phenylephrine
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
10258
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
6500
ChemSpider
5818
BindingDB
50067212
Guide to Pharmacology
485
ZINC
ZINC000000113355
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:277
GenAtlas
ADRA1A
GeneCards
ADRA1A
GenBank Gene Database
D25235
GenBank Protein Database
433201
Guide to Pharmacology
22
UniProt Accession
ADA1A_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:278
GenAtlas
ADRA1B
GeneCards
ADRA1B
GenBank Gene Database
M99589
Guide to Pharmacology
23
UniProt Accession
ADA1B_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:280
GenAtlas
ADRA1D
GeneCards
ADRA1D
GenBank Gene Database
M76446
GenBank Protein Database
177807
Guide to Pharmacology
24
UniProt Accession
ADA1D_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:3023
GenAtlas
DRD2
GeneCards
DRD2
GenBank Gene Database
M30625
GenBank Protein Database
181432
Guide to Pharmacology
215
UniProt Accession
DRD2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:6833
GenAtlas
MAOA
GeneCards
MAOA
GenBank Gene Database
M68840
GenBank Protein Database
187353
Guide to Pharmacology
2489
UniProt Accession
AOFA_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:6834
GenAtlas
MAOB
GeneCards
MAOB
GenBank Gene Database
S62734
GenBank Protein Database
398415
Guide to Pharmacology
2490
UniProt Accession
AOFB_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:11455
GeneCards
SULT1A3
UniProt Accession
ST1A3_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2596
GenAtlas
CYP1A2
GeneCards
CYP1A2
GenBank Gene Database
Z00036
Guide to Pharmacology
1319
UniProt Accession
CP1A2_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
10 active patents, 4 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: