Tafluprost Ophthalmic
Tafluprost ophthalmic solution is a prostaglandin analog eye drop used to lower elevated eye pressure in adults with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.
🧬 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 6 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 →
📖 Tafluprost Ophthalmic: Patient Information Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of Tafluprost Ophthalmic — 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▾
Tafluprost ophthalmic solution is used to lower elevated pressure inside the eye. Specifically:
- Zioptan (tafluprost ophthalmic solution) 0.0015% is FDA-approved to reduce elevated intraocular pressure in adults with open-angle glaucoma
- Zioptan (tafluprost ophthalmic solution) 0.0015% is also approved for adults with ocular hypertension (high eye pressure without glaucoma damage yet)
⚙️How it works▾
Tafluprost is a prostaglandin analog — a synthetic compound that mimics a naturally occurring substance in the body. It works by binding to FP prostanoid receptors in the eye, which is believed to open up a drainage pathway called the uveoscleral route, allowing fluid to flow out of the eye more easily. Less fluid means less pressure buildup. Eye pressure starts to drop within about 2 to 4 hours of the first dose, with peak effect around 12 hours later.
💊How it's taken▾
Tafluprost ophthalmic solution comes as a single-dose eye drop container and is applied once each evening. Using it more than once a day is not recommended — doing so can actually reduce how well it lowers eye pressure.
- One drop in the affected eye(s) every evening
- If you use multiple eye drops, space them at least 5 minutes apart
- Open the single-dose container right before use, apply it, and throw the rest away — it cannot be kept sterile after opening
- Remove contact lenses before applying; wait 15 minutes before putting them back in
Always follow your prescriber's exact instructions and the directions on your prescription label.
🤒Side effects — in detail▾
The most common side effect is eye redness (conjunctival hyperemia), which affects 4%–20% of people. Other side effects reported include:
- Eye stinging or irritation (about 7%)
- Eye itching or allergic-type eye redness (about 5%)
- Cataracts (about 3%)
- Dry eye (about 3%)
- Eye pain (about 3%)
- Blurred vision (about 2%)
- Eyelash darkening or increased eyelash growth (about 2% each)
- Headache (about 6%), common cold (4%), cough (3%)
Rarely, more serious reactions have been reported after approval, including worsening asthma, breathing difficulty, and eye inflammation (iritis/uveitis) — contact your doctor promptly if any of these occur.
⚠️Warnings & precautions▾
- Permanent iris darkening: Tafluprost can increase the amount of brown pigment in the colored part of your eye. This change is likely permanent — it does not reverse after stopping the medication. People with partially brown or hazel eyes may be most at risk. The change can take months to years to appear, so regular eye exams are important.
- Eyelid and eyelash changes: Your eyelashes may become longer, thicker, darker, or more numerous. Changes to eyelid skin pigmentation can also occur. These are usually reversible when treatment is stopped.
- Eye inflammation: Use with caution if you have active iritis or uveitis — tafluprost can worsen inflammation inside the eye.
- Macular edema: Swelling at the back of the eye (macular edema) has been reported with prostaglandin eye drops. Risk is higher in people who have had certain types of cataract surgery or who have other risk factors for this condition.
- Contact lenses: Remove lenses before each dose and wait 15 minutes before reinserting.
🔀What it interacts with▾
The FDA label for tafluprost does not identify specific drug, food, or supplement interactions. However, if you use other eye drops:
- Wait at least 5 minutes between each eye drop product to avoid washing one out before it can work
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▾
- Eye inflammation: Tell your doctor if you have active iritis or uveitis — tafluprost may worsen it
- Prior eye surgery: Tell your doctor if you've had cataract surgery, especially with a torn posterior lens capsule, or if you have risk factors for macular edema
- Pregnancy: No adequate human studies exist; animal studies at high doses showed fetal harm. Discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor
- Breastfeeding: It is unknown whether tafluprost passes into human breast milk; use with caution and discuss with your doctor
- Children: Not recommended for pediatric use due to concerns about permanent pigment changes with long-term use
- Older adults: No difference in safety or effectiveness has been seen compared to younger adults
📡Pharmacodynamics — effects in the body▾
Tafluprost begins reducing intraocular pressure approximately 2 to 4 hours after the first dose, with maximum pressure-lowering effect reached at about 12 hours. Using the drops more than once daily does not increase the benefit and may actually reduce effectiveness, so once-nightly dosing is the recommended schedule.
🔬Pharmacokinetics — how your body processes it▾
After the drop is placed in the eye, tafluprost is absorbed through the cornea and quickly converted into its active form, tafluprost acid, which does the actual work of lowering pressure. Blood levels of tafluprost acid peak about 10 minutes after the drop is applied, but concentrations fall below detectable levels in the bloodstream within 30 minutes, meaning very little reaches the rest of the body. The active metabolite is then broken down through normal metabolic pathways and cleared from the body.
📦How to store it▾
Store refrigerated at 2° to 8°C (36° to 46°F). Store in the original pouch. stored in the opened foil pouch for up to 30 days at room temperature 20° to 25°C (68° to 77°F).
📄 Written from Tafluprost Ophthalmic’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 Tafluprost Ophthalmic
3 supplements and herbal products have documented interactions with Tafluprost Ophthalmic in the licensed clinical database we use. Most are manageable — but your pharmacist should know about everything you take, including vitamins and herbals.
- Moderate · 2
- 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 Tafluprost Ophthalmic — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
Why do I have to use this drop in the evening specifically? ▾
Will this drug change the color of my eyes? ▾
I noticed my eyelashes are getting longer and darker — is that from this medication? ▾
Can I wear my contact lenses when I use this eye drop? ▾
What should I do with the little single-dose container after I use it? ▾
Is this eye drop safe to use during pregnancy or while breastfeeding? ▾
Is Tafluprost Ophthalmic available over the counter? ▾
When was Tafluprost Ophthalmic first available? ▾
Who makes Tafluprost Ophthalmic? ▾
💬 Answers drafted from Tafluprost Ophthalmic’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 Tafluprost Ophthalmic comes
Tafluprost Ophthalmic 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.
Eye drops
How this form is used
- Zioptan (tafluprost ophthalmic solution) 0.0015% is used to lower elevated intraocular pressure in adults with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension
- Apply one drop into the affected eye(s) once daily in the evening
- Do not use more than once daily — more frequent dosing can reduce effectiveness
- If using other eye drops at the same time, wait at least 5 minutes between each product
- Open each single-dose container immediately before use, use it right away, and discard it — do not save leftover solution
📊 Tafluprost Ophthalmic across the U.S. market
How Tafluprost Ophthalmic 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 Tafluprost Ophthalmic is used
A general measure of how commonly Tafluprost Ophthalmic 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 Tafluprost Ophthalmic 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 Tafluprost Ophthalmic prescribed? Of the 1,596 medications we measure, Tafluprost Ophthalmic ranks #1,155 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 28% of them.
Utilization by Tafluprost Ophthalmic 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.
tafluprost 0.015 MG/ML Ophthalmic Solution
Summed across the 5 of 14 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 1244611
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 Tafluprost Ophthalmic, 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 5 of 14 listed Tafluprost Ophthalmic NDCs with Medicaid activity.
🔍 Compare Tafluprost Ophthalmic products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Tafluprost Ophthalmic — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💊Eye drops | ||||
| 0.0045 mg/0.3 mL | Ophthalmic | Akorn | NDA | View NDC → |
| 0.015 mg/mL | Ophthalmic | Ingenus Pharmaceuticals, LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.0045 mg/0.3 mL | Ophthalmic | Micro Labs Limited × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.0045 mg/0.3 mL | Ophthalmic | Prasco Laboratories | NDA AUTHORIZED GENERIC | View NDC → |
| 0.0045 mg/0.3 mL | Ophthalmic | Sandoz Inc × 3 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.015 mg/mL | Ophthalmic | Thea Pharma Inc. × 3 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
Showing 11 of 11 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 11 Tafluprost Ophthalmic 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 Tafluprost Ophthalmic — 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 Tafluprost Ophthalmic 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 Tafluprost Ophthalmic 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 1244607 1 dose form · 1 strength
-
Dose form (SCDF) Ophthalmic Solution RxCUI 1244610In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) 0.015 MG/MLRxCUI 1244611
Look up RxCUI 1244607 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 Tafluprost Ophthalmic 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
Tafluprost Ophthalmic belongs to the Prostaglandin Analog 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 6 FDA-filed SPL label sets 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. Prasco Laboratories 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.