Carfilzomib Injection
Carfilzomib is a cancer-fighting injection used to treat relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma in adults who have already received prior therapy.
🧬 Where this information comes from Click to expand
The clinical label records used on this page are FDA-filed Structured Product Labeling (SPL) retrieved through openFDA. We identified 1 clinical label set within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, strengths, and NDC product-record counts are built separately from matching FDA National Drug Code Directory records. The linked DailyMed document is a representative official source for verification, not the page’s only clinical source. View the linked label on DailyMed →
📖 Carfilzomib Injection: Patient Information Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of Carfilzomib Injection — what it treats, how it works, how it’s taken, side effects, warnings and interactions. Tap any section to expand it.
🎯What it's used for▾
Kyprolis (carfilzomib) injection is approved to treat relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma — a blood cancer that has returned or stopped responding to prior treatment — in adult patients.
- Kyprolis is approved as a single agent for adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received one or more prior lines of therapy
- Kyprolis + lenalidomide + dexamethasone (KRd): for adults who have received one to three prior lines of therapy
- Kyprolis + dexamethasone (Kd): for adults who have received one to three prior lines of therapy
- Kyprolis + daratumumab + dexamethasone (DKd): for adults who have received one to three prior lines of therapy
- Kyprolis + daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj + dexamethasone (DKd): for adults who have received one to three prior lines of therapy
- Kyprolis + isatuximab + dexamethasone (Isa-Kd): for adults who have received one to three prior lines of therapy
- Not approved for use with melphalan and prednisone in newly diagnosed transplant-ineligible patients — this combination showed higher rates of fatal and serious side effects without added benefit
⚙️How it works▾
Carfilzomib is a proteasome inhibitor — it permanently blocks the proteasome, a cellular structure that acts like a recycling system inside cells, breaking down unwanted or damaged proteins. Cancer cells, especially myeloma cells, are unusually dependent on this system to survive and multiply. When carfilzomib shuts it down, harmful proteins pile up inside the cancer cell, triggering programmed cell death (apoptosis). Unlike some other proteasome inhibitors, carfilzomib binds irreversibly — meaning the block is permanent for that proteasome molecule.
Animal studies showed that carfilzomib slowed tumor growth in multiple myeloma and other cancer models. In the blood, measurable proteasome suppression begins within 1 hour of the first infusion and lasts for at least 48 hours after each weekly dose.
💊How it's taken▾
Kyprolis is given as an intravenous (IV) infusion in a clinical setting — never taken by mouth or self-administered at home. The infusion time is either about 10 minutes or 30 minutes, depending on the specific regimen prescribed. It is administered on specific days within repeating 28-day cycles — either once weekly or twice weekly — and your care team will determine how many cycles you receive based on your response and tolerability.
- Patients must be well hydrated with oral and IV fluids before infusions, especially in Cycle 1, to reduce kidney and tumor lysis risks
- Dexamethasone (a steroid) is given before Kyprolis doses to help prevent infusion reactions
- Kyprolis should be given after hemodialysis sessions if you are on dialysis
- Follow your prescriber's exact schedule — do not adjust timing or skip doses without guidance from your care team
🤒Side effects — in detail▾
The most commonly reported side effects with Kyprolis (in at least 20% of patients) include:
- Anemia (low red blood cell count) — can cause tiredness and weakness
- Fatigue
- Thrombocytopenia (low platelet count) — can cause bruising or bleeding
- Nausea and diarrhea
- Fever (pyrexia)
- Shortness of breath (dyspnea)
- Cough and upper respiratory tract infections
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Swelling in the legs or feet
- Insomnia
More serious reactions — including heart failure, kidney failure, severe lung problems, blood clots, serious bleeding, and rare brain disorders — have also been reported and require prompt medical attention if they occur.
⚠️Warnings & precautions▾
- Heart problems: Heart failure, heart attack, and even cardiac arrest have occurred with Kyprolis — sometimes in patients with no prior heart issues. Risk is higher in patients 75 and older. Heart function is monitored throughout treatment.
- High blood pressure: Hypertension, including hypertensive crisis, is common. Blood pressure should be controlled before starting and monitored regularly during treatment.
- Kidney failure: Acute kidney failure has occurred, including fatal cases. Regular kidney function monitoring is required. Risk is higher in patients with pre-existing kidney problems.
- Lung problems: Serious respiratory conditions — including acute respiratory distress syndrome and pulmonary hypertension — have been reported. Shortness of breath should be evaluated promptly.
- Blood clots (venous thromboembolism): Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism have occurred, especially when Kyprolis is combined with other agents. Preventive blood thinners (thromboprophylaxis) are recommended.
- Bleeding: Serious and sometimes fatal bleeding has occurred, including in the gut, lungs, and brain — even in patients with normal platelet counts.
- Tumor lysis syndrome: Rapid breakdown of cancer cells can release substances that harm the kidneys and other organs. Pre-treatment hydration and monitoring are essential.
- Liver failure: Fatal liver failure has been reported. Liver enzymes are monitored regularly during treatment.
- Brain disorders: Rare but serious conditions including PRES (posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome — a neurological disorder with seizures and vision disturbances) and PML (progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy — a dangerous brain infection) have been reported. New or worsening neurological symptoms should be evaluated immediately.
- Embryo-fetal toxicity: Kyprolis can harm an unborn baby. Effective contraception is required during and after treatment.
🔀What it interacts with▾
While carfilzomib has limited direct drug-drug interactions through the liver's CYP enzyme system, there are still important things to discuss with your care team:
- Immunosuppressive medications: Prior or concurrent use of immune-suppressing drugs may increase the risk of serious infections, including PML (a rare brain infection)
- Hormonal contraceptives: Birth control pills or patches that contain hormones may raise blood clot risk when Kyprolis is used in combination regimens; non-hormonal contraception may be recommended
- P-glycoprotein (P-gp) substrates: Carfilzomib inhibits P-gp in the lab, which can theoretically affect how certain other drugs are transported in the body — discuss all medications with your care team
- Combination therapy agents (lenalidomide, daratumumab, isatuximab, dexamethasone): Each partner drug has its own interaction profile and dosing adjustments — refer to the prescribing information for each
This is not a complete list of interactions. Always talk with your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping, or changing any medication.
📋Before taking it▾
- Heart conditions: Patients with heart failure (NYHA Class III or IV), recent heart attack, uncontrolled arrhythmias, or angina need a thorough evaluation before starting — they were excluded from clinical trials and may be at higher risk
- High blood pressure: Blood pressure should be optimized before starting Kyprolis
- Kidney disease or hemodialysis: Kyprolis should be given after dialysis sessions; kidney function must be monitored regularly
- Liver disease: A 25% dose reduction is required for mild or moderate liver impairment; safe dosing has not been established for severe liver impairment
- Pregnancy: Kyprolis can cause serious harm or loss of a pregnancy — a pregnancy test is required before starting; effective contraception is mandatory during and for 6 months after treatment for women, and 3 months after for men
- Breastfeeding: Women should not breastfeed during treatment or for 2 weeks after the last dose
- Children: Safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients have not been established
- Older adults (75+): Higher rates of serious side effects, including heart failure and fatal reactions, have been observed — closer monitoring is needed
- Fertility: Kyprolis may affect fertility in both men and women; discuss family planning with your doctor before starting
🚑If you take too much▾
An accidental overdose of Kyprolis has been reported and caused chills, low blood pressure (hypotension), kidney insufficiency, and drops in platelet and white blood cell counts. There is no specific antidote for a Kyprolis overdose. If an overdose is suspected, medical staff will monitor closely and provide supportive care as needed.
📡Pharmacodynamics — effects in the body▾
After a Kyprolis infusion, measurable suppression of proteasome activity in the blood is detectable within 1 hour of the first dose. At therapeutic doses, the drug inhibits a key proteasome enzyme (the chymotrypsin-like, or CT-L, activity) by 80% or more. This suppression lasts at least 48 hours after each dose given in a weekly dosing week, meaning the drug continues working between infusions. Higher doses also inhibit additional proteasome subunits (LMP2 and MECL1), potentially broadening the anti-cancer effect.
🔬Pharmacokinetics — how your body processes it▾
Carfilzomib is given directly into the bloodstream by IV infusion, so absorption is immediate. It is very rapidly cleared from the body — its half-life (the time it takes for half of the drug to leave the blood) is one hour or less after the first dose. Despite this short time in circulation, its effects on the proteasome last much longer because the drug binds permanently. Carfilzomib is quickly broken down in the body mainly through peptide-cleaving enzymes and a process called epoxide hydrolysis, with the liver's CYP enzyme system playing only a minor role. About 25% of the drug is excreted in the urine as metabolites within 24 hours. Patients with mild or moderate liver impairment have about 50% higher drug exposure, and patients on hemodialysis have about 33% higher exposure compared to those with normal kidney function.
📦How to store it▾
stored refrigerated 2°C to 8°C (36°F to 46°F). protect from light.
📄 Written from Carfilzomib Injection’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Every point is grounded in that labeling — nothing is invented. How we use AI →
Supplements & herbs that interact with Carfilzomib Injection
38 supplements and herbal products have documented interactions with Carfilzomib Injection in the licensed clinical database we use. Most are manageable — but your pharmacist should know about everything you take, including vitamins and herbals.
- Major · 3
- Moderate · 35
Educational information from a licensed clinical database (Natural Medicines) — see our data sources & update cadence. Not medical advice: an interaction being documented does not mean it will happen to you; do not start or stop medications or supplements without professional guidance.
🩺 Pharmacist Counseling Corner
Quick, plain-English answers to the questions patients ask most about Carfilzomib Injection — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
What exactly is Kyprolis treating in my body? ▾
What should I expect during and after my infusion? ▾
What side effects are most important to watch out for between appointments? ▾
Do I need to do anything special to prepare for each infusion session? ▾
Can I get pregnant or father a child while on Kyprolis? ▾
Is Kyprolis safe if I have kidney disease or I'm on dialysis? ▾
Is Carfilzomib Injection available over the counter? ▾
When was Carfilzomib Injection first available? ▾
Who makes Carfilzomib Injection? ▾
💬 Answers drafted from Carfilzomib Injection’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Grounded in that labeling — nothing is made up. How we use AI →
🧰 Keep exploring
💊 How Carfilzomib Injection comes
Carfilzomib Injection is available in 1 form. Different forms and brands can have different approved uses, doses, schedules, and directions. Follow the instructions for your exact product, and do not switch forms without guidance from your prescriber or pharmacist.
Injection
How this form is used
- Kyprolis injection is used to treat adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received one or more prior lines of therapy
- Kyprolis may be used as a single agent or combined with lenalidomide and dexamethasone, dexamethasone alone, daratumumab and dexamethasone, daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj and dexamethasone, or isatuximab and dexamethasone
- Kyprolis in combination with melphalan and prednisone is NOT approved for newly diagnosed transplant-ineligible patients
- Kyprolis is given as an intravenous infusion by a healthcare professional; infusion time is either approximately 10 minutes or 30 minutes depending on the prescribed regimen
- Kyprolis may be given once weekly or twice weekly in 28-day cycles; your care team will determine the right schedule
- Patients must be well hydrated before and after Kyprolis infusions, especially in the first cycle, to protect the kidneys
- Kyprolis should be administered after a hemodialysis session in patients who are on dialysis
📊 Carfilzomib Injection across the U.S. market
How Carfilzomib Injection appears in the FDA’s National Drug Code Directory — including its dosage forms, strengths, brand names, manufacturers, and FDA-listed product records. These are directory records, not sales or prescription volume.
Share of FDA-listed product records by manufacturer — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
📈 How widely Carfilzomib Injection is used
A general measure of how commonly Carfilzomib Injection is prescribed, based on Medicaid — one of the largest public drug programs. The figure below is prescriptions filled in Q1–Q4 2025, summed across every form and brand of the drug.
Think of this as a proxy for how widely Carfilzomib Injection is used, drawn from freely available public data. Medicaid is just one program — these numbers don’t include Medicare, other government coverage, or commercial and cash-pay prescriptions, so real-world use is higher than what’s shown here.
How commonly is Carfilzomib Injection prescribed? Of the 1,597 medications we measure, Carfilzomib Injection ranks #974 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 39% of them.
Utilization by Carfilzomib Injection product
Pick a product to see its own Medicaid numbers. Each chip is one clinical product — a specific strength & dosage form as defined by RxNorm — with brand-name and generic versions combined.
carfilzomib 60 MG Injection Most dispensed
Summed across the 1 of 2 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 1806940
carfilzomib 10 MG Injection
Summed across the 1 of 2 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 2046642
carfilzomib 30 MG Injection
Summed across the 1 of 2 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 1806934
Shares are of the Medicaid prescriptions shown here. Product grouping follows RxNorm (the National Library of Medicine’s drug terminology), so “one product” means one strength & dosage form regardless of manufacturer. Dollar figures are gross Medicaid reimbursement before mandatory rebates — rebates (often large, especially for brand-name drugs) are confidential, so actual net cost to Medicaid is lower than shown.
Source: Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data (CMS), aggregated by generic ingredient — summed across every NDC (all brands, strengths, salt forms and dosage forms) of Carfilzomib Injection, and across all states and both fee-for-service and managed-care claims. A general popularity signal; it excludes Medicare, commercial insurance and cash prescriptions, so it is not total U.S. use. Based on the 3 of 6 listed Carfilzomib Injection NDCs with Medicaid activity.
🔍 Compare Carfilzomib Injection products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Carfilzomib Injection — across manufacturers, strengths, and dosage forms, grouped by form with each product’s manufacturer and how the FDA approved it. The same medicine may be made and packaged by different companies, so a single drug can have many directory entries. (It’s also why a refill can look different — a new shape, color, or box — even though it contains the same medication.)
| Strength | Route | Manufacturer / Labeler | Category ⓘ | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💊Injection | ||||
| 10 mg/5 mL | Intravenous | Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. × 2 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 30 mg/15 mL | Intravenous | Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. × 2 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 60 mg/30 mL | Intravenous | Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. × 2 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 10 mg/5 mL | — | Patheon Manufacturing Services LLC | DRUG FOR FURTHER PROCESSING | View NDC → |
| 30 mg/15 mL | — | Patheon Manufacturing Services LLC | DRUG FOR FURTHER PROCESSING | View NDC → |
| 60 mg/30 mL | — | Patheon Manufacturing Services LLC | DRUG FOR FURTHER PROCESSING | View NDC → |
Showing 9 of 9 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 9 Carfilzomib Injection NDCs →
📈 What people report — real-world data (FDA FAERS)
After a medicine reaches the market, patients, doctors and drugmakers can send the FDA reports of problems they think may be linked to it. Here’s what’s been reported for Carfilzomib Injection — a signal of what to watch for, not proof the drug caused it.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). These are voluntary reports — they don’t prove the drug caused the effect, and counts reflect how often something was reported, not how often it actually happens. Reports also often name the very problem the medicine is taken for — a common reason to file one is that the drug didn’t help — so for a pain reliever you may see “pain” high on the list; that points to why the report was filed, not to the drug causing the symptom. This counts every report that lists Carfilzomib Injection in any role, so the total runs higher than the FDA’s official dashboard, which counts only cases where the drug is the suspect. For the authoritative figures, see the FDA FAERS Public Dashboard. Always talk to your pharmacist or doctor.
🏛️ The road to your pharmacy
How Carfilzomib Injection went from FDA review to the pharmacy shelf — the key milestones in its regulatory journey.
Source: Drugs@FDA.
🚨 Recall history
A recall is when a specific batch of a medicine is pulled from the market — usually a manufacturing issue, not a problem with the drug itself. Class I is most serious, Class III least.
Source: openFDA drug enforcement (recall) reports.
RxNorm Concept Web — From Ingredient to Every Form and Strength
This page starts with one ingredient concept (IN). The branches below show its dose-form concepts (SCDF), then the available clinical drug and strength concepts (SCD). Combination products remain separate concepts with their own pages.
RxCUI 1302966 1 dose form · 3 strengths
-
Dose form (SCDF) Injection RxCUI 1806933In current FDA listings
Look up RxCUI 1302966 in the RxCUI Atlas →
RxNorm is the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s normalized drug vocabulary. Its concept hierarchy can include forms that are not currently marketed; the status on each branch compares that concept with current FDA listings. RxCUIs identify vocabulary concepts, not individual packages or manufacturers.
📦 Supply & shortage status
Whether Carfilzomib Injection is in short supply in the U.S. right now, plus any shortage history the FDA has on record. A shortage usually reflects a manufacturing or demand issue — not a safety problem with the drug.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Drug Shortages database.
🏷️ Sold under these brand names
🏭 Manufacturers & labelers
RxNorm drug class
Carfilzomib Injection belongs to the Proteasome Inhibitor class.
Classified by RxNorm RxClass — the U.S. National Library of Medicine's standardized drug-classification service (Established Pharmacologic Class from the FDA, the ATC drug family from the WHO, and mechanism of action). Reference only, not medical advice.
🔬 Where this comes from
Core label, product, RxNorm, safety, and utilization data on this page come from the sources identified below. AI-written, editorial, and licensed sections are labeled separately.
How we combine label and product data
HelloPharmacist combines public FDA and NLM records; we don’t author the underlying clinical facts. We identified 1 FDA-filed SPL label set within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. The representative label is the starting point for the displayed reference monograph; the 12 largest stored in-scope SPL records, which may include that representative, are compared section by section, and the longest available version of each section is retained. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, product-listed strengths, and product-record counts are aggregated separately from ingredient-matched FDA NDC Directory records; package records listed above are associated with the linked SPL; and the normalized concept hierarchy comes from NLM RxNorm.
Where a section is identified as AI-written, its plain-language text is generated from bounded label evidence. New draft drug pages remain in the admin review queue before first publication. Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is the representative DailyMed label linked for verification and dates; it is not the sole source used for the page.
This is general education, not medical advice — always consult your doctor or pharmacist about your medications and any medical condition. For the exact wording of the linked representative label, view that label on DailyMed; some displayed composite sections may come from other in-scope SPL labels. Learn how we use AI and our data sources & update cadence.