Interferon Gamma-1b Injection
Interferon gamma-1b is an immune-boosting injection used to reduce serious infections in chronic granulomatous disease and to slow disease progression in severe, malignant osteopetrosis.
🧬 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 →
📖 Interferon Gamma-1b Injection: Patient Information Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of Interferon Gamma-1b 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▾
Interferon gamma-1b (Actimmune) is approved for two rare inherited conditions:
- Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD): Actimmune reduces how often and how seriously infections occur in patients with this inherited immune disorder, where certain white blood cells can't kill bacteria and fungi effectively.
- Severe, malignant osteopetrosis (SMO): Actimmune delays how quickly the disease progresses in patients with this rare inherited bone disorder, in which bones grow abnormally dense and the immune system is impaired.
⚙️How it works▾
Interferon gamma-1b is a lab-made copy of a protein your immune system naturally produces. It binds to specific receptors on the surface of immune cells, triggering a chain of events inside those cells that turns on infection-fighting genes. This enhances the activity of macrophages (immune cells that engulf and destroy pathogens), activates natural killer (NK) cells, and boosts other parts of the immune response. In osteopetrosis, it also appears to improve osteoclast function — these are the cells responsible for breaking down old bone, which helps counteract the excessive bone buildup seen in SMO.
The exact mechanism behind its benefit in both CGD and SMO hasn't been fully worked out. Notably, measuring a patient's superoxide levels during treatment does not predict how well they're responding, so that test is not used to guide therapy.
💊How it's taken▾
Actimmune is given as a subcutaneous (under-the-skin) injection three times per week — typically on alternating days such as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The dose your prescriber calculates is based on your body surface area. There are no food restrictions, but taking it at bedtime may help lessen flu-like side effects. If serious side effects occur, your prescriber may reduce the dose by half or pause treatment — never adjust the dose on your own.
- Inject into the right or left upper arm or front of the thigh
- Rotate injection sites to reduce local skin reactions
- Each vial is single-use only — discard leftover solution after each dose
- Blood tests (blood counts, liver and kidney function, urinalysis) are recommended before starting and every three months during treatment
🤒Side effects — in detail▾
The most common side effects with Actimmune are flu-like symptoms that often improve as treatment continues:
- Fever
- Headache
- Chills
- Fatigue
- Rash
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Redness, pain, or tenderness at the injection site
- Muscle or joint aches
More serious reactions to watch for include signs of liver problems (yellowing skin or eyes, severe stomach pain), low blood counts (unusual bruising, bleeding, or infection), neurological changes (confusion, difficulty walking, dizziness), worsening heart symptoms, kidney problems, or a serious allergic reaction. Contact your doctor right away if any of these occur.
⚠️Warnings & precautions▾
- Heart conditions: Flu-like symptoms caused by Actimmune can put extra stress on the heart. Patients with pre-existing ischemia, heart failure, or arrhythmia need close monitoring for worsening symptoms.
- Nervous system effects: Confusion, gait problems, and dizziness have been reported, especially at higher doses. These are usually reversible when the dose is reduced or stopped.
- Low blood counts: Actimmune can reduce white blood cell and platelet counts, increasing infection and bleeding risk — especially when combined with other bone marrow-suppressing drugs.
- Liver toxicity: Liver enzyme levels can rise significantly. Infants under one year old are at higher risk and must have liver function checked monthly. Dose reduction or interruption can reverse these elevations.
- Kidney toxicity: In patients with severe kidney disease, the drug may accumulate with repeated use. Regular kidney function monitoring is required.
- Serious allergic reactions: Though rare, severe hypersensitivity reactions have occurred. Stop the injection and seek immediate care if this happens.
- Latex allergy: The rubber stopper on the Actimmune vial contains natural rubber (latex), which can cause reactions in latex-sensitive patients.
🔀What it interacts with▾
Actimmune can interact with several types of medications — tell your prescriber and pharmacist about everything you take:
- Bone marrow-suppressing drugs (myelosuppressive agents): Using these together increases the risk of dangerously low blood counts; close monitoring of blood counts is required.
- Drugs toxic to the nervous system, heart, or blood: Their harmful effects may be amplified when combined with interferon gamma-1b.
- Vaccines and immune preparations: Taking these at the same time as Actimmune is not recommended — it may trigger an unexpected or exaggerated immune response.
- Drugs processed by liver enzymes (cytochrome P-450 pathway): Interferon gamma can reduce activity of these liver enzymes, potentially raising blood levels of other medications broken down this way.
- Drugs toxic to the liver or kidneys: These may affect how Actimmune is cleared from the body, potentially increasing its accumulation.
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▾
- Allergy to interferon gamma or E. coli-derived products: Actimmune must not be used — this is a contraindication.
- Heart disease (angina, heart failure, arrhythmia): Use with caution; flu-like symptoms can stress the heart.
- Seizure disorder or central nervous system conditions: Extra monitoring is needed; Actimmune may affect neurological function.
- Liver disease: Actimmune can cause liver enzyme elevations and may accumulate in people with advanced liver disease. Monthly monitoring is required in infants under one year old.
- Severe kidney disease: Actimmune may build up in the body over repeated doses; kidney function should be monitored regularly.
- Pregnancy: Animal studies showed increased miscarriage risk at high doses. Use only if clearly needed and discussed with your doctor.
- Breastfeeding: It isn't known whether Actimmune passes into breast milk. Discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor before breastfeeding.
- Fertility concerns: Higher levels of interferon gamma may potentially affect fertility in both men and women; the long-term effects in younger patients are not yet known.
- Children under 1 month: Safety and effectiveness have not been established in infants younger than one month old.
- Older adults: Use cautiously — age-related declines in heart, liver, and kidney function may increase the risk of side effects.
- Latex allergy: The vial stopper contains natural rubber latex — alert your healthcare team before use.
🚑If you take too much▾
Taking too much Actimmune can cause nervous system problems including confusion, dizziness, and difficulty walking, as well as low white blood cell counts (neutropenia), low platelet counts (thrombocytopenia), elevated liver enzymes, and high triglyceride levels. These effects have generally been reversible when the dose is reduced or treatment is stopped. If you think you or someone else has received too much, contact your healthcare provider or seek emergency care promptly.
📡Pharmacodynamics — effects in the body▾
Interferon gamma-1b activates the immune system in several measurable ways: it boosts the ability of macrophages to destroy microbial pathogens through oxidative metabolism, activates natural killer (NK) cells, and increases the expression of immune signaling proteins on cell surfaces. In patients with severe, malignant osteopetrosis, it has been shown to enhance osteoclast function and increase superoxide production by immune cells. However, changes in superoxide levels during treatment do not predict clinical effectiveness and should not be used to judge how well the therapy is working.
🔬Pharmacokinetics — how your body processes it▾
After subcutaneous injection, Actimmune is slowly absorbed — more than 89% of the dose reaches the bloodstream. It reaches peak blood levels roughly 7 hours after a subcutaneous dose. The half-life (time for the drug level to fall by half) is about 5.9 hours after subcutaneous injection. The drug does not appear to build up in the body with repeated daily dosing over 12 days. The liver and kidneys are both capable of clearing interferon gamma-1b from the body, and the drug is not detected in urine after administration.
📦How to store it▾
Store vials in the refrigerator at 2 to 8 °C (36 °F – 46 °F). Do Not Freeze. stored at room temperature up to 12 hours prior to use.
📄 Written from Interferon Gamma-1b 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 Interferon Gamma-1b Injection
57 supplements and herbal products have documented interactions with Interferon Gamma-1b 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 · 53
- Minor · 1
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 Interferon Gamma-1b Injection — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
What exactly is Actimmune being used to treat — I've never heard of these conditions before. ▾
How do I take Actimmune, and do I have to go to a clinic for every injection? ▾
What side effects should I expect, and which ones mean I need to call my doctor? ▾
Are there any medications or vaccines I need to avoid while taking Actimmune? ▾
I'm worried about using this while pregnant. Is it safe? ▾
What kind of monitoring or blood tests will I need while on Actimmune? ▾
Is Interferon Gamma-1b Injection available over the counter? ▾
When was Interferon Gamma-1b Injection first available? ▾
💬 Answers drafted from Interferon Gamma-1b 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 Interferon Gamma-1b Injection comes
Interferon Gamma-1b 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
- Actimmune is used to reduce the frequency and severity of serious infections in patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD)
- Actimmune is used to delay disease progression in patients with severe, malignant osteopetrosis (SMO)
- Actimmune is given as a subcutaneous (under-the-skin) injection three times per week, typically on alternating days
- Actimmune should be injected into the right or left deltoid (upper arm) or the front of the thigh
- Actimmune is a single-dose vial — discard any unused portion after each injection; do not mix with other drugs in the same syringe
- Actimmune should be inspected before each use — it should be clear and colorless; do not use if it appears cloudy or contains particles
📊 Interferon Gamma-1b Injection across the U.S. market
How Interferon Gamma-1b 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.
📈 How widely Interferon Gamma-1b Injection is used
A general measure of how commonly Interferon Gamma-1b 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 Interferon Gamma-1b 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 Interferon Gamma-1b Injection prescribed? Of the 1,597 medications we measure, Interferon Gamma-1b Injection ranks #1,374 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 14% of them.
Utilization by Interferon Gamma-1b 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.
0.5 ML interferon gamma-1b 0.2 MG/ML Injection
Summed across the 1 of 2 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 240448
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 Interferon Gamma-1b 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 1 of 2 listed Interferon Gamma-1b Injection NDCs with Medicaid activity.
🔍 Compare Interferon Gamma-1b Injection products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Interferon Gamma-1b 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 | ||||
| 100 mcg/0.5 mL | Subcutaneous | Horizon Therapeutics USA, Inc. × 2 listings | BLA | View NDC → |
Showing 2 of 2 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 2 Interferon Gamma-1b 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 Interferon Gamma-1b 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 Interferon Gamma-1b 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 Interferon Gamma-1b 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 5882 1 dose form · 1 strength
-
Dose form (SCDF) Injection RxCUI 1720955In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) 0.5 ML interferon gamma-1b 0.2 MG/MLRxCUI 240448
Look up RxCUI 5882 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 Interferon Gamma-1b 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
Interferon Gamma-1b Injection belongs to the Interferon gamma 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. Horizon Therapeutics USA, 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.