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New search Medicine profile Rifamycin

Clinical medicine profile

Rifamycin

Therapeutic agent (verify pharmacological class)

POM
Evidence state General guidance Reviewed 14 Aug 2026
Route
See product SmPC
Schedule
POM
ATC
Not assigned
PPB status
registered
Patient advice Check interactions
Verification required

This profile needs source confirmation

Some sections contain general class guidance rather than medicine-specific evidence. Confirm prescribing decisions against the current SmPC and Kenya STG/EML.

01 Risk first

Safety essentials

The information most likely to change a prescribing or dispensing decision.

Contraindications

  • Hypersensitivity to the active substance or excipients.
  • Additional absolute contraindications are indication- and product-specific — consult SmPC.

Precautions

  • Obtain allergy and medication history.
  • Adjust for renal/hepatic impairment, pregnancy, lactation, extremes of age and interacting drugs.
  • Use the lowest effective dose for the shortest appropriate duration.
  • Monitor for expected class adverse effects.
02 Point of care

Dosing matrix

Population and organ-function guidance, shown together for faster comparison.

Adult

Dose: For treatment of TB in adult with body mass less than 50kg - 450 mg OD, body mass over 50 kg - 600 mg OD (max daily dose is 1.2 g). Treatment of TB in children > 3 years of age: 10 mg/kg OD or BD (maximum dose: 450 mg). For treatment of infectious diseases caused by the drug-sensitive microorganisms: daily dose for adults - 450-900 mg/day and for children 8-10 mg/kg of body mass BD or TID

Paediatric

See label paediatric section if present; otherwise use paediatric formulary — do not extrapolate adult doses.

Renal

Review renal impairment dosing; many agents need CrCl/eGFR adjustment.

  • CrCl 0–120: Confirm renal dosing in product SmPC / primary label.
Hepatic

Review hepatic impairment dosing; monitor LFTs if agent is hepatically cleared or hepatotoxic.

03 Clinical use

Use, effects & interactions

Indications

  • TB (especially in a patient who cannot take oral rifampicin)
  • multiple-resistant staphylococcal infections such as staphylococcal pneumonia and osteomyelitis.
  • Clinical selection for Rifamycin should follow culture results where relevant, Kenya STG/EML recommendations, and the current product SmPC.
  • Class context: Therapeutic agent (verify pharmacological class).
  • Confirm site-specific dose, duration and monitoring before prescribing.

Adverse effects

  • Adverse reactions vary by agent.
  • Counsel on common predictable effects and serious warning symptoms (allergy, severe rash, jaundice, unusual bleeding, severe GI symptoms, neurological changes).
  • Report suspected ADRs via national pharmacovigilance channels.
  • Rifamycin SV, on old chemical entity, was a produced by the modification of Rifamycin B (which is inactive).
  • It was later modified into Rifampicin (which is orally active).
04 Pharmacology

Mechanism & disposition

It selectively inhibits DNA-dependent RNA-polymerase.

It selectively inhibits DNA-dependent RNA-…Mechanism is agent-specific.At receptor, enzyme, ion channel, transpor…
Read complete mechanism

It selectively inhibits DNA-dependent RNA-polymerase. Mechanism is agent-specific. At receptor, enzyme, ion channel, transporter or microbial target level, the drug alters a physiological or pathological pathway to produce its therapeutic effect. Confirm precise molecular mechanism in current SmPC / pharmacology reference for this INN before high-stakes decisions.

Onset

Product-specific

Duration

Product-specific

Route

See product SmPC

Elimination

are product-specific. Consider food effects, protein binding, hepatic CYP/UGT

Half-life

when adjusting for organ impairment, age and drug interactions. Verify parameters in the current SmPC.

05 Special populations

Pregnancy, lactation & diet

Pregnancy

Use only if potential benefit justifies potential risk; prefer agents with better reproductive data when alternatives exist.

Lactation

Assess infant risk vs benefit of maternal therapy; prefer agents with lactation data.

06 Kenya market

Brands & loaded prices

FromKES 900
MedianKES 900
Listings1
BrandManufacturerPackObserved price
In Afya Index / Retail Reference tabs 200mg 10's KES 900.00afya_index_book
07 Provenance

Sources & review state

Primary sourceLocal active-ingredient clinical extract; RxNorm (NLM RxNav); PubChem; Professional class pharmacology (Therapeutic agent (verify pharmacological class))
Last reviewed14 Aug 2026
EvidenceGeneral guidance
Open source document ↗

Decision support only. Confirm patient-specific decisions against the current product SmPC, Kenya STG/EML, and professional judgement.