Eribulin Injection
Eribulin Injection is an intravenous chemotherapy medicine (a microtubule inhibitor) used to treat metastatic breast cancer and unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma after earlier treatments.
🧬 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 17 clinical label sets 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 →
Eribulin (Halaven) is an IV chemotherapy for breast cancer that has spread and for liposarcoma (a fat-tissue cancer) that has spread or cannot be removed, given after earlier chemotherapy; it disrupts microtubules, the internal scaffolding cancer cells need to divide, and has been around since about 2010, now available as a generic. For a chemotherapy it is often considered fairly manageable, though tiredness, hair loss, nausea and constipation are common. The two big risks are low infection-fighting white blood cells, so counts are checked before every dose and any fever means calling right away, and nerve damage, so report new numbness or tingling in your hands or feet early.
Clinical pearls
- Drugs that lengthen the QT interval (a heart rhythm measure), such as some antiarrhythmics, call for extra caution with eribulin.
- Because it can disturb heart rhythm, low potassium or magnesium gets corrected first; report a racing heartbeat or fainting promptly.
- Unlike many cancer drugs, liver-enzyme interactions are not expected; even ketoconazole and rifampin barely changed its levels.
- Contraception continues at least 2 weeks after the last dose for women, and 3.5 months for men with female partners.
Patient information guide A plain-language walkthrough of Eribulin Injection, written from its FDA label.
What Eribulin Injection is used for
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Eribulin Injection is used for these cancers after prior treatment:
- Metastatic breast cancer after at least two chemotherapy regimens for metastatic disease, including an anthracycline and a taxane.
- Unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma after a prior anthracycline-containing regimen.
How Eribulin Injection works
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Eribulin is a microtubule inhibitor. It blocks the growth of microtubules, the internal scaffolding cells use to divide, and clumps tubulin into unusable groups. Cancer cells get stuck before dividing and eventually die.
In lab studies of breast cancer cells, it also reduced cell movement and invasiveness.
Eribulin Injection dosage
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Eribulin Injection is given into a vein (IV) by a healthcare professional over about 2 to 5 minutes. It is given on Days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle.
- Blood counts and nerve symptoms are checked before each dose.
- Doses may be delayed or lowered for low blood counts or serious side effects.
- Lower doses are used for liver problems or moderate to severe kidney problems.
- It must not be mixed with other drugs or given with dextrose-containing solutions.
Because your care team gives it, ask them what to do if you miss an appointment.
Dosing details from the FDA-approved label
From the Eribulin Injection prescribing information (“Dosage and Administration”). Doses are set by your prescriber for your product, condition, kidney function and age — never change a dose on your own.
- Recommended dose (general)
- 1.4 mg/m2 administered intravenously over 2 to 5 minutes on Days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle
- Mild hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh A)
- 1.1 mg/m2 administered intravenously over 2 to 5 minutes on Days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle
- Reduced dose for hepatic impairment
- Moderate hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh B)
- 0.7 mg/m2 administered intravenously over 2 to 5 minutes on Days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle
- Reduced dose for hepatic impairment
- Moderate or severe renal impairment (creatinine clearance (CLcr) 15-49 mL/min)
- 1.1 mg/m2 administered intravenously over 2 to 5 minutes on Days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle
- Reduced dose for renal impairment
Read the label’s full dosing text
2 DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION • Administer 1.4 mg/m 2 intravenously over 2 to 5 minutes on Days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle. ( 2.1 ) • Reduce dose in patients with hepatic impairment or with moderate or severe renal impairment. ( 2.1 ) • Do not mix with other drugs or administer with dextrose-containing solutions. ( 2.3 ) 2.1 Recommended Dose The recommended dose of eribulin mesylate injection is 1.4 mg/m 2 administered intravenously over 2 to 5 minutes on Days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle. The recommended dose of eribulin mesylate injection in patients with mild hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh A) is 1.1 mg/m 2 administered intravenously over 2 to 5 minutes on Days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle [see Use in Specific Populations (8.6) ] . The recommended dose of eribulin mesylate injection in patients with moderate hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh B) is 0.7 mg/m 2 administered intravenously over 2 to 5 minutes on Days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle [see Use in Specific Populations (8.6) ] . The recommended dose of eribulin mesylate injection in patients with moderate or severe renal impairment (creatinine clearance (CLcr) 15-49 mL/min) is 1.1 mg/m 2 administered intravenously over 2 to 5 minutes on Days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle [see Use in Specific Populations (8.7 ) ] . 2.2 Dose Modification Assess for peripheral neuropathy and obtain complete blood cell counts prior to each dose. Recommended dose delays • Do not administer eribulin mesylate injection on Day 1 or Day 8 for any of the following: – ANC < 1,000/mm 3 – Platelets < 75,000/mm 3 – Grade 3 or 4 non-hematological toxicities. • The Day 8 dose may be delayed for a maximum of 1 week. – If toxicities do not resolve or improve to ≤ Grade 2 severity by Day 15, omit the dose. – If toxicities resolve or improve to ≤ Grade 2 severity by Day 15, administer eribulin mesylate injection at a reduced dose and initiate the next cycle no sooner than 2 weeks later. Recommended dose reductions • If a dose has been delayed for toxicity and toxicities have recovered to Grade 2 severity or less, resume eribulin mesylate injection at a reduced dose as set out in Table 1. • Do not re-escalate eribulin mesylate injection dose after it has been reduced.
Excerpted — the section continues on the label. Read the full Dosage and Administration section on DailyMed →
Eribulin Injection side effects
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The most common side effects in studies were:
Common side effects
- Low white blood cell count (neutropenia)
- Anemia (low red blood cells)
- Tiredness or weakness
- Hair loss
- Numbness or tingling (peripheral neuropathy)
- Nausea
- Constipation
- Abdominal pain and fever (seen in liposarcoma studies)
When to get medical help
- Call your doctor right away for fever or signs of infection, since low white blood cells can lead to serious or fatal infection.
- Tell your care team about new or worsening numbness, tingling, or weakness in the hands or feet.
- Report a racing, fluttering, or irregular heartbeat, or fainting, which can signal QT prolongation (a heart rhythm change).
- Tell your doctor right away if you become pregnant or think you might be.
Eribulin Injection warnings and precautions
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- Neutropenia: severe, sometimes fatal infections can occur. Blood counts are monitored before each dose.
- Peripheral neuropathy: it was the most common reason for stopping treatment and can last a long time.
- QT prolongation: a heart rhythm change. ECG monitoring is recommended for people with heart failure, slow heart rhythms, electrolyte problems, or QT-prolonging drugs. Avoid in congenital long QT syndrome.
- Fetal harm: can harm an unborn baby.
Eribulin Injection interactions
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Few drug interactions are expected, but some points matter.
- CYP3A4 inhibitors or inducers and P-gp inhibitors: no interactions expected.
- Drugs processed by common liver enzymes: eribulin is not expected to change their levels.
- QT-prolonging drugs, including Class Ia and III antiarrhythmics: extra heart monitoring is recommended.
- Dextrose-containing solutions and other drugs: do not mix with eribulin.
Interactions listed in the FDA-approved label
From the Eribulin Injection prescribing information (“Drug Interactions”): what the manufacturer studied or reported to the FDA.
- CYP3A4 inhibitors (e.g., ketoconazole, a strong CYP3A4 inhibitor and P-gp inhibitor): No drug-drug interactions are expected; clinically meaningful differences in exposure (AUC) were not observed with or without ketoconazole.
- CYP3A4 inducers (e.g., rifampin): No drug-drug interactions are expected; clinically meaningful differences in exposure (AUC) were not observed with or without rifampin.
- P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibitors: No drug-drug interactions are expected.
- CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP2E1 and CYP3A4 substrates: Eribulin does not inhibit these enzymes or induce CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19 or CYP3A4 at relevant clinical concentrations and is not expected to alter plasma concentrations of substrates of these enzymes.
Read the label’s full interactions text
7 DRUG INTERACTIONS 7.1 Effects of Other Drugs on Eribulin Mesylate Injection No drug-drug interactions are expected with CYP3A4 inhibitors, CYP3A4 inducers or P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibitors. Clinically meaningful differences in exposure (AUC) were not observed in patients with advanced solid tumors when Eribulin Mesylate Injection was administered with or without ketoconazole (a strong inhibitor of CYP3A4 and a P-gp inhibitor) and when Eribulin Mesylate Injection was administered with or without rifampin (a CYP3A4 inducer) [ see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ] . 7.2 Effects of Eribulin Mesylate Injection on Other Drugs Eribulin does not inhibit CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP2E1 or CYP3A4 enzymes or induce CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19 or CYP3A4 enzymes at relevant clinical concentrations. Eribulin is not expected to alter the plasma concentrations of drugs that are substrates of these enzymes [ see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ] .
Not a complete list. The label covers the interactions the manufacturer studied or reported, and our own interaction database does not cover every medicine either. Bring your full medication list, including vitamins and herbal products, to your pharmacist.
Before taking Eribulin Injection
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- No contraindications are listed.
- Tell your doctor about liver or kidney problems, as lower doses are used.
- Tell them about heart failure, slow heart rhythm, long QT syndrome, or low potassium or magnesium.
- Avoid pregnancy; use effective contraception during treatment and for at least 2 weeks after (females) or 3.5 months after (males with partners who could become pregnant).
- Do not breastfeed during treatment and for 2 weeks after the last dose.
- Safety and effectiveness in children have not been established.
Eribulin Injection overdose
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An overdose of about 4 times the recommended dose caused Grade 3 neutropenia lasting seven days and a Grade 3 hypersensitivity (allergic-type) reaction lasting one day. There is no known antidote.
What Eribulin Injection does in the body
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In a study of 26 patients, eribulin caused a delayed QTc prolongation (a heart rhythm timing change) on Day 8 but not on Day 1. The largest average change was about 11 ms.
How your body processes Eribulin Injection
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Eribulin's levels in the body rise in proportion to the dose. Its average half-life is about 40 hours. About half to two-thirds is bound to proteins in blood plasma. Unchanged eribulin is the main form in the blood. It does not build up with weekly dosing.
How to store Eribulin Injection
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Store at 20ºC to 25°C (68º to 77°F); excursions permitted to 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F) . Do not freeze or refrigerate. Store the vials in their original cartons.
Written from the FDA-approved label with AI and reviewed by our pharmacy team. How we use AI →
Supplements & herbs that interact with Eribulin Injection
13 supplements and herbal products have documented interactions with Eribulin 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 · 6
- Moderate · 7
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.
Eribulin Injection: pharmacist answers to common questions
Quick, plain-English answers to the questions patients ask most about Eribulin Injection — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
What is Eribulin Injection for?
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How will I get it?
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What side effects should I expect?
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Why do I need blood tests?
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Do I need to worry about other medicines?
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What about pregnancy and breastfeeding?
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Is Eribulin Injection available over the counter?
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When was Eribulin Injection first available?
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Who makes Eribulin Injection?
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Answers drafted from the FDA-approved label with AI and reviewed by our pharmacy team. How we use AI →
More about Eribulin Injection on HelloPharmacist
Eribulin Injection forms and strengths (how it comes)
Eribulin 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.
Need a version that does not list lactose, a gluten source, a dye or gelatin? Inactive ingredients differ by manufacturer: see Eribulin Injection inactive ingredients by manufacturer.
Eribulin Injection on the U.S. market: products, makers and brands
How Eribulin 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.
16 companies list 17 Eribulin Injection product records with the FDA, mostly as injection; the earliest marketing or approval year on record is 2010. Brand names on the directory include Halaven; the rest are generics.
Share of FDA-listed product records by manufacturer — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
How widely Eribulin Injection is used (Medicaid data)
A general measure of how commonly Eribulin 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 Eribulin 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 Eribulin Injection prescribed? Of the 1,601 medications we measure, Eribulin Injection ranks #1,246 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 22% of them.
Utilization by Eribulin 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.
2 ML eribulin mesylate 0.5 MG/ML Injection
Summed across the 3 of 17 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 1045456
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 Eribulin 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 17 listed Eribulin Injection NDCs with Medicaid activity.
Compare Eribulin Injection products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Eribulin 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 | ||||
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | Apotex Corp. × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | Baxter Healthcare Company | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | BluePoint Laboratories | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 1 mg/2 mL | Intravenous | BSP Pharmaceuticals SpA | NDA | View NDC → |
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | Dr. Reddys Laboratories Inc | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | Eisai Inc. | NDA | View NDC → |
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | Gland Pharma Limited | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., Usa | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | Hikma Pharmaceuticals Usa Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | Kindos Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | Long Grove Pharmaceuticals, LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | Northstar Rx LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | Sandoz Inc | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.5 mg/mL | Intravenous | XGen Pharmaceuticals DJB, Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
Showing 17 of 17 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 17 Eribulin Injection NDCs →
Eribulin Injection side effects reported to the 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 Eribulin Injection — a signal of what to watch for, not proof the drug caused it.
The effects most often named in FDA reports that mention Eribulin Injection are neutropenia, malignant neoplasm progression, febrile neutropenia; about 93% of the reports were classed as serious. These are voluntary reports, so they show what people report, not how often it happens.
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 Eribulin 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.
Eribulin Injection FDA approval history
How Eribulin Injection went from FDA review to the pharmacy shelf — the key milestones in its regulatory journey.
Eribulin Injection was first approved by the FDA in 2010 (Brand: HALAVEN · Eisai Inc); the first generic version was approved in 2024. It remains available in U.S. pharmacies today.
Source: Drugs@FDA.
Eribulin Injection 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.
The FDA’s enforcement reports list no Eribulin recalls since July 2021.
✅No Eribulin recalls on record since July 2021Source: FDA enforcement (recall) reports, via openFDA; our copy was last updated Sep 24, 2026.
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 1045453 1 dose form · 1 strength
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Dose form (SCDF) Injection RxCUI 1736560In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) 2 ML eribulin mesylate 0.5 MG/MLRxCUI 1045456
Look up RxCUI 1045453 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.
Eribulin Injection supply and shortage status
Whether Eribulin 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.
Eribulin Injection brand names
Eribulin Injection is sold under one brand name in the FDA directory — Halaven. A brand and its generic contain the same active ingredient; the brand name belongs to one company's product.
Who makes Eribulin Injection: manufacturers and labelers
16 companies list Eribulin Injection products with the FDA. By number of product records, the largest are Apotex Corp., BSP Pharmaceuticals SpA, Baxter Healthcare Company. Labelers include manufacturers and repackagers; the product in your bottle depends on which one your pharmacy stocks.
Eribulin Injection drug class (RxNorm)
Eribulin Injection belongs to the Microtubule 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.
Sources for this Eribulin Injection page
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 this page is built
HelloPharmacist combines public FDA and NLM records and does not author the underlying clinical facts. The plain-language sections are written with AI from the FDA-approved label text and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Eisai Inc. is the representative DailyMed label linked for verification and dates. This is general education, not medical advice: always talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own medicines. How we build and review drug pages →