Tacrolimus
Two tacrolimus products sit on this shelf, split by route and purpose: Prograf tablets prevent organ transplant rejection, while Protopic’s 0.03% tube addresses atopic dermatitis.
Key points
- PROGRAF carries a boxed warning for serious infections and malignancies that may lead to hospitalisation or death.
- Nephrotoxicity was reported in around 52% of kidney transplant patients treated with PROGRAF, due to its effect on the blood vessels of the kidney.
- PROGRAF is not interchangeable with extended-release tacrolimus products; switching between the two requires physician supervision.
Two products, two jobs
Prograf (0.5 mg, 1 mg, 5 mg tablets) is the oral calcineurin inhibitor a transplant team prescribes to stop the immune system attacking a new kidney. Protopic (0.03% tube, listed under Skin Care) is a separate formulation for the skin. The safety data above, including the boxed warning and the nephrotoxicity figure, applies to the oral transplant product.

