Clindamycin and Tazemetostat: Interaction Details
AI-assisted, pharmacist-reviewed · AI content regenerated Jul 11, 2026 · Source data updated Jul 1, 2026 · Sources: FDA labeling, DDInter 2.0, cited literature
Tazemetostat
Clindamycin
How we grade severity & evidence
Severity levels
- Contraindicated: These should generally not be used together.
- Major: Potentially serious — often needs a change or close monitoring.
- Moderate: Can be significant — usually manageable with monitoring.
- Minor: Usually limited clinical impact.
Evidence grades
- Established: Well documented — supported by controlled studies or strong clinical data.
- Probable: Good supporting evidence, though not definitively proven.
- Suspected: Some evidence suggests this interaction, but it is not well established.
- Possible: Limited or conflicting evidence; the interaction may occur.
- Theoretical: Predicted from the drugs' pharmacology; not yet confirmed in people.
Ratings come from the documented interaction literature and are reviewed by a pharmacist. They describe the documented risk of the combination, not what will necessarily happen to you — your dose, timing, and health picture all matter.
Let's talk about taking tazemetostat (Tazverik) together with the antibiotic clindamycin (Cleocin). Tazemetostat can speed up the liver enzyme (called CYP3A) that breaks down clindamycin. When that happens, your body may clear the antibiotic faster than usual, so there could be less of it working against your infection.
The concern here is that the antibiotic may not do its full job. The good news is that this is very manageable. Your care team can keep an eye on how well your infection is responding and adjust things if needed. Don't stop or change either medicine on your own, just let your pharmacist or doctor know you're taking both.
Effect: Tazemetostat is a CYP3A inducer and may reduce exposure to CYP3A substrates. Clindamycin is metabolized primarily by CYP3A4, so its systemic exposure (AUC/Cmax) may decrease, potentially reducing antibacterial efficacy.
- Mechanism: Induction of CYP3A-mediated clindamycin metabolism by tazemetostat.
- Magnitude: In a dedicated study, tazemetostat 800 mg BID reduced oral midazolam AUC by 40% and Cmax by 21% (sensitive CYP3A probe).
- Evidence/onset: Probable; onset unspecified.
- Management: Monitor clinical response to clindamycin; dose may need to be individualized, or consider an alternative antibiotic per the care team.
What happens
Reduced CYP3A substrate exposure and reduced efficacy of CYP3A substrate
Interaction Deep Dive
Taking tazemetostat together with CYP3A substrates can lower the exposure of those substrates, which may diminish their therapeutic effect. A drug interaction study in patients showed that when tazemetostat 800 mg twice daily was given alongside oral midazolam (a sensitive CYP3A substrate), the AUC of midazolam fell by 40% and its Cmax fell by 21%1.
Why it happens (mechanism)
Induction of CYP3A-substrate metabolism by tazemetostat
How to manage this interaction
Here's how a care team usually handles this combination:
- Keep taking both as prescribed unless your doctor or pharmacist tells you otherwise.
- Your team may watch your infection more closely to make sure the clindamycin is still working well.
- The clindamycin dose may need to be adjusted and individualized by your care team, or they may choose a different antibiotic if that fits better.
What to do: Tell your pharmacist or prescriber you're on tazemetostat, and report if your infection isn't improving (fever, worsening redness, pain, or drainage). They can tailor treatment to keep you covered.
Management is individual — confirm any change with your pharmacist or prescriber.
Literature reports
1 report — tap to read
a) In a drug interaction study, giving tazemetostat 800 mg twice daily together with oral midazolam (a sensitive CYP3A substrate) in patients reduced midazolam AUC by 40% and Cmax by 21% 1.
Common questions
Can I take Clindamycin and Tazemetostat together?
Tazemetostat can speed up how your body breaks down clindamycin, which may make the antibiotic less effective. Keep taking both as prescribed and let your care team monitor your response so they can adjust the dose or antibiotic if needed. Always confirm with your pharmacist or prescriber before making any change.
How serious is the Clindamycin and Tazemetostat interaction?
It is rated major. Potentially serious — often needs a change or close monitoring.
How quickly could this interaction happen?
The documented onset is "unspecified". The timing of this interaction is not well characterized.
How is the Clindamycin and Tazemetostat interaction managed?
Here's how a care team usually handles this combination: Keep taking both as prescribed unless your doctor or pharmacist tells you otherwise. Your team may watch your infection more closely to make sure the clindamycin is still working well. The clindamycin dose may need to be adjusted and individualized by your care team, or they may choose a different antibiotic if that fits better. What to do:… Management is individual — always follow your own care team's guidance.
How strong is the evidence for this interaction?
The evidence is graded "probable". Good supporting evidence, though not definitively proven.
From our Q&A
Real reader questions about these medications, each personally answered by our pharmacist:
Questions for your pharmacist
- Does my dose of Clindamycin or Tazemetostat need adjusting while I take them together?
- What symptoms should prompt me to call you or my prescriber right away?
- Does the timing of my doses matter for this combination?
- Is there a safer alternative to one of these medications for me?
References (1)
- Product Information: TAZVERIK(R) oral tablets, tazemetostat oral tablets. Epizyme Inc (per FDA), Cambridge, MA, 2024. DailyMed
Keep reading about Tazemetostat
Keep reading about Clindamycin
These medications also interact with supplements
Prescription drugs aren't the whole picture — herbal and dietary supplements can interact with them too. From the evidence-graded Natural Medicines database:
major · moderate · minor — check everything you take with our drug–supplement interaction checker.
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