Tigecycline Injection
Tigecycline injection is a tetracycline-class antibiotic given intravenously to treat serious bacterial infections of the skin, abdomen, and lungs in adults.
🧬 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 8 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 →
⚠️ FDA Boxed Warning — the FDA’s strongest safety alert ▾
Important safety warning: Tigecycline has been associated with a higher risk of death compared to other antibiotics. A review of multiple clinical trials found that patients treated with tigecycline died at a slightly higher rate than those treated with alternative antibiotics — roughly 4 in 100 vs. 3 in 100 patients. The reason for this difference has not been fully determined, but deaths were generally related to worsening infections or serious underlying conditions. The risk was highest in patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia. Because of this, tigecycline should only be used when other antibiotic treatments are not an option. If you or your loved one is receiving this medication, your medical team has determined the benefits outweigh this risk in your specific situation.
📖 Tigecycline Injection: Patient Information Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of Tigecycline 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▾
Tigecycline injection (brand name Tygacil) is a broad-spectrum IV antibiotic approved for adults to treat specific serious bacterial infections. It is not a first-choice antibiotic for most situations — it is reserved for cases where other antibiotics aren't suitable.
- Complicated skin and skin structure infections — serious bacterial infections of the skin and deeper tissues, including those caused by MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus)
- Complicated intra-abdominal infections — serious infections inside the abdomen, such as those involving the intestines or abdominal lining, caused by a range of bacteria including resistant strains
- Community-acquired bacterial pneumonia — bacterial pneumonia caught outside of a hospital setting, including cases where the infection has also entered the bloodstream (bacteremia)
- Not approved for diabetic foot infections — a clinical trial failed to show it worked well enough for this use
- Not approved for hospital-acquired pneumonia or ventilator-associated pneumonia — trials showed lower cure rates and higher mortality with tigecycline for these conditions
⚙️How it works▾
Tigecycline is a tetracycline-class antibiotic that works by shutting down bacterial protein production. It binds to the 30S ribosomal subunit — a key piece of the bacteria's protein-building machinery — and blocks amino acids from being added to growing protein chains. Without proteins, bacteria can't function or reproduce. For most bacteria, tigecycline stops their growth (bacteriostatic); but it can actually kill certain organisms like Streptococcus pneumoniae and Legionella pneumophila (bactericidal activity).
Tigecycline is designed to get around one of the most common forms of antibiotic resistance seen with older tetracyclines, which is why it remains active against some resistant bacteria, including MRSA and vancomycin-susceptible Enterococcus.
💊How it's taken▾
Tygacil is given only by intravenous (IV) infusion — it cannot be taken by mouth. It is infused slowly into a vein over about 30 to 60 minutes, typically once every 12 hours. Treatment generally lasts 5 to 14 days depending on the type and severity of infection; your prescriber will determine the right length of treatment for you.
- Patients with severe liver impairment require a reduced maintenance dose — your doctor will adjust this
- No dose adjustment is needed for kidney problems or for older adults based on age alone
- Blood clotting tests (including fibrinogen levels) should be checked before starting and monitored regularly during treatment
🤒Side effects — in detail▾
The most common side effects of tigecycline are digestive — most people experience some degree of nausea or vomiting, especially in the first day or two of treatment.
- Nausea (very common — affects about 1 in 4 patients)
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Abdominal (stomach) pain
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Elevated liver enzymes on blood tests
- Low blood protein (hypoproteinemia)
Seek medical attention right away if you develop severe diarrhea (especially with blood or mucus), signs of a serious allergic reaction (throat swelling, difficulty breathing, rapid heart rate), yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice), severe abdominal pain that could suggest pancreatitis, or any unusual bruising or bleeding.
⚠️Warnings & precautions▾
- Increased all-cause mortality: Analysis of multiple clinical trials found that tigecycline-treated patients had a slightly higher death rate than those on comparator antibiotics (about 4% vs. 3%). The cause is not fully understood. This risk was greatest in patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia. Tigecycline should only be used when alternatives are not suitable.
- Severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis): Life-threatening allergic reactions have been reported. Patients with known allergy to tetracycline-class antibiotics should not receive tigecycline.
- Liver damage: Significant liver problems, including liver failure, have occurred. Liver function should be monitored; tell your doctor immediately if you develop jaundice or extreme fatigue.
- Pancreatitis: Acute pancreatitis, including fatal cases, has been reported — even in people without known risk factors. Severe stomach pain during treatment should prompt immediate evaluation.
- Low fibrinogen (hypofibrinogenemia): Tigecycline can lower fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein, increasing bleeding risk. Blood clotting tests must be monitored throughout treatment.
- C. difficile diarrhea (CDAD): Like all antibiotics, tigecycline can disrupt normal gut bacteria and allow C. difficile to overgrow, causing severe or even life-threatening diarrhea — sometimes appearing weeks after finishing treatment.
- Tooth and bone effects in children and pregnancy: Use during tooth development (second/third trimester of pregnancy, infancy, childhood under 8) can permanently discolor teeth and temporarily slow bone growth.
🔀What it interacts with▾
Tigecycline has a few important drug interactions your care team should know about before you start treatment.
- Warfarin (blood thinner): Tigecycline may alter warfarin's effect on blood clotting. Blood clotting tests (prothrombin time) should be monitored closely during treatment.
- Tacrolimus and cyclosporine (calcineurin inhibitors, used after organ transplant): Tigecycline may raise blood levels of these drugs, increasing the risk of serious toxicity. Blood levels of these medications must be checked regularly.
- Oral contraceptives (birth control pills): Tigecycline, like other antibiotics, may reduce the effectiveness of hormonal birth control. Use an additional contraceptive method during treatment.
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 tetracyclines: Do not use tigecycline if you are allergic to it or to any tetracycline antibiotic (such as doxycycline or minocycline) — serious allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, have occurred.
- Severe liver disease: Patients with severe liver impairment (Child-Pugh C) need a lower maintenance dose and close monitoring.
- Pregnancy: Tigecycline may permanently stain developing baby teeth and may temporarily slow bone growth if used in the second or third trimester. Discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor if you are pregnant.
- Breastfeeding: Tetracycline-class drugs pass into breast milk. Breastfeeding should be avoided during treatment and for 9 days after the last dose, especially if treatment lasts more than 3 weeks. Pumping and discarding breast milk during this period is an option to maintain milk supply.
- Children under 18: Use is not recommended. The safety and effectiveness have not been established due to the increased mortality risk seen in adult trials. Use in children under 8 is especially discouraged due to the risk of permanent tooth discoloration.
- Older adults: No dose adjustment is generally needed based on age alone, but older individuals may be more sensitive to some side effects — close monitoring is appropriate.
- Intestinal perforation: Tigecycline should not be used alone (monotherapy) for abdominal infections caused by a hole or tear in the intestine — combination therapy is needed in those cases.
🚑If you take too much▾
There is limited information on tigecycline overdose. In a study where healthy volunteers received a high single dose, the main effects were increased nausea and vomiting. Tigecycline is not significantly removed by hemodialysis (kidney dialysis). If an overdose is suspected, contact your healthcare team or Poison Control immediately for guidance.
📡Pharmacodynamics — effects in the body▾
Tigecycline does not appear to significantly affect the heart's electrical rhythm — specifically, it did not meaningfully change the QTc interval (a measure of heart rhythm on an ECG) at doses studied in healthy volunteers, which is reassuring compared to some other antibiotics. Its primary measurable effect in the body is inhibiting bacterial growth by blocking protein synthesis at the ribosomal level.
🔬Pharmacokinetics — how your body processes it▾
After IV infusion, tigecycline distributes very widely throughout the body — it reaches tissues including the lungs, gallbladder, colon, and skin at concentrations often much higher than in the blood, which helps it fight infections in those locations. It is not heavily broken down by the liver; most of it is eliminated unchanged, primarily through bile and stool (about 59%), with the rest cleared through the urine.
Tigecycline has a long half-life (the time for the body to clear half the drug) of roughly 27 to 42 hours, which is why twice-daily dosing is sufficient. Patients with severe liver disease clear the drug more slowly and need a lower maintenance dose. Kidney disease does not significantly affect clearance, so no dose adjustment is needed for kidney problems.
📦How to store it▾
stored at 20° to 25°C (68° to 77°F). stored at room temperature (not to exceed 25°C/77°F) for up to 24 hours (up to 6 hours in the vial and the remaining time in the intravenous bag) .
📄 Written from Tigecycline 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 Tigecycline Injection
98 supplements and herbal products have documented interactions with Tigecycline 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 · 2
- Moderate · 88
- Minor · 8
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.
Nutrient depletion considerations
Tigecycline Injection has been associated with lower levels of 11 nutrients in the clinical literature. This does not mean a deficiency will occur — it means these may be worth discussing with your pharmacist or healthcare provider, especially with long-term use.
- Higher significance · 10
- Moderate · 1
Educational information from a licensed clinical database (Natural Medicines) — not medical advice. 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 Tigecycline Injection — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
Why am I getting this antibiotic instead of a pill I can take at home? ▾
I heard this antibiotic has a warning about death — should I be worried? ▾
What side effects should I expect, and what should I call my doctor about? ▾
Can I take my other medications while on this antibiotic? ▾
Is this safe if I'm pregnant or breastfeeding? ▾
How long will I be on this medication, and how will I know it's working? ▾
Is Tigecycline Injection available over the counter? ▾
When was Tigecycline Injection first available? ▾
Who makes Tigecycline Injection? ▾
💬 Answers drafted from Tigecycline 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 Tigecycline Injection comes
Tigecycline 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
- Tygacil is used to treat complicated skin and skin structure infections in adults 18 and older
- Tygacil is used to treat complicated intra-abdominal infections in adults 18 and older
- Tygacil is used to treat community-acquired bacterial pneumonia in adults 18 and older
- Tygacil is not approved for diabetic foot infections or hospital-acquired/ventilator-associated pneumonia
- Tygacil is given as an intravenous infusion over approximately 30 to 60 minutes, every 12 hours
- Tygacil is prepared by reconstituting the powdered vial with an appropriate solution; the reconstituted solution should appear yellow to orange — discard if it is another color
- Tygacil may be infused through a dedicated IV line or a Y-site; the line should be flushed before and after infusion if shared with other drugs
- Tygacil should not be mixed in the same IV line at the same time as amphotericin B, diazepam, esomeprazole, or omeprazole
📊 Tigecycline Injection across the U.S. market
How Tigecycline 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 Tigecycline Injection is used
A general measure of how commonly Tigecycline 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 Tigecycline 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 Tigecycline Injection prescribed? Of the 1,597 medications we measure, Tigecycline Injection ranks #1,316 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 18% of them.
Utilization by Tigecycline 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.
tigecycline 50 MG Injection
Summed across the 5 of 21 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 581531
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 Tigecycline 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 5 of 21 listed Tigecycline Injection NDCs with Medicaid activity.
🔍 Compare Tigecycline Injection products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Tigecycline 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 | ||||
| 50 mg/10 mL | Intravenous | Accord Healthcare Inc. | NDA | View NDC → |
| 50 mg/5 mL | Intravenous | Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC × 3 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 50 mg/5 mL | Intravenous | Apotex Corp × 3 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 50 mg | Intravenous | AuroMedics Pharma LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 50 mg | Intravenous | Eugia US LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 50 mg/5 mL | Intravenous | Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC | NDA | View NDC → |
| 50 mg/5 mL | Intravenous | Meitheal Pharmaceuticals Inc. × 3 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 50 mg | — | Patheon Italia S.p.A | DRUG FOR FURTHER PROCESSING | View NDC → |
| 50 mg/10 mL | Intravenous, Parenteral | Sandoz Inc × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 50 mg/10 mL | Intravenous; Parenteral | Sandoz Inc | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 50 mg/5 mL | Intravenous | Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC, a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. × 5 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 50 mg | Intravenous | Xellia Pharmaceuticals USA LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
Showing 23 of 23 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 23 Tigecycline 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 Tigecycline 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 Tigecycline 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 Tigecycline 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 384455 1 dose form · 1 strength
-
Dose form (SCDF) Injection RxCUI 1724329In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) 50 MGRxCUI 581531
Look up RxCUI 384455 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 Tigecycline 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
Tigecycline Injection belongs to the Tetracycline-class Antibacterial 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 8 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. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC, a subsidiary of Pfizer 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.