Adapalene: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Adapalene is a retinoid sold in the U.S. under one brand, for acne vulgaris. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Drug class
- Retinoid
- Treats
- Acne Vulgaris
- Available as
- Topical
- Sold as
- Differin
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
- What the pharmacy pays
- about $0.51 per gm — not your price
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How adapalene is dosed
From the FDA label for Differin (application NDA021753). Other adapalene products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Wash affected areas gently with a non-medicated soap. Apply a thin film of Adapalene Gel to the entire face and any other affected areas of the skin once daily in the evening. Avoid application to the areas of skin around eyes, lips, and mucous membranes. A mild transitory sensation of warmth or slight stinging may occur shortly after the application of Adapalene Gel. Instruct patients to minimize sun exposure and to use moisturizers for relief of dry skin or irritation. If therapeutic results are not noticed after 12 weeks of treatment, therapy should be re-evaluated. For topical use only. Not for ophthalmic, oral or intravaginal use. Wash affected areas gently with a non-medicated soap. (2) Apply a thin film of Adapalene Gel, to the entire face and other affected areas of the skin once daily in the evening. (2) For topical use only. Not for ophthalmic, oral or intravaginal use. (2)
Adapalene side effects
The most frequently reported ( > 1%) adverse reactions were erythema, scaling, dryness, and/or burning/stinging. ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Mayne Pharma at 1-844-825-8500 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch . 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reactions rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. In the multi-center, controlled clinical trial, signs and symptoms of local cutaneous irritation were monitored in 258 acne subjects who used Adapalene Gel once daily for 12 weeks. Of the subjects who experienced cutaneous irritation (erythema, scaling, dryness, and/or burning/stinging), the majority of cases were mild to moderate in severity, occurred early in treatment and decreased thereafter. The incidence of local cutaneous irritation with Adapalene Gel from the controlled clinical trial is provided in the following table: Table 1: Physician assessed local cutaneous irritation with Adapalene Gel * Total number of subjects with local cutaneous data for at least one post-Baseline evaluation. Incidence of Local Cutaneous Irritation with Adapalene Gel (N = 253*) Maximum Severity Scores Higher Than Baseline Mild Moderate Severe Erythema 66…
Who shouldn’t take adapalene
Adapalene Gel is contraindicated in patients who have known hypersensitivity to adapalene or any excipient of Adapalene Gel [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS (5.1)]. Contraindicated in patients who have known hypersensitivity to adapalene or any excipient of Adapalene Gel. ( 4 )
Every adapalene product we track (1)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
Only one: Differin.
Combination products containing adapalene
A combination is a different drug — different dosing, different warnings. It is listed here so you can find it, not so you can substitute it.
How long adapalene keeps
No adapalene label we read sets a separate limit for after opening, but they do specify how it must be stored — and the stability behind any date assumes those conditions.
Does adapalene expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsAdapalene and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for adapalene: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadTopical adapalene has not been studied during breastfeeding. Because it is poorly absorbed after topical application, and blood levels are less than 0.25 mcg/L with long-term use, it is probably a low risk to the nursing infant. Absorption should be minimized by applying it to the smallest possible surface area of the body for the shortest time possible. Do not apply to the nipple area and ensure that the infant’s skin does not come into direct contact with the areas of skin that have been treated.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised June 15, 2025. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about adapalene
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 180,267 reports naming adapalene, and the FDA flagged 0% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- dry skin45,374 reports
- skin burning sensation41,909 reports
- acne39,405 reports
- erythema38,562 reports
- skin irritation26,473 reports
- skin exfoliation21,367 reports
- inappropriate schedule of product administration16,205 reports
- rash15,684 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean adapalene caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved July 25, 2026.
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Frequently asked questions
What is adapalene?
Adapalene Gel contains adapalene 0.3% (3 mg/g) in a topical aqueous gel for use in the treatment of acne vulgaris, consisting of carbomer 940, edetate disodium, methylparaben, poloxamer 124, propylene glycol, purified water, and sodium hydroxide. May contain hydrochloric acid for pH adjustment.
What kind of drug is adapalene?
The FDA classifies adapalene as a retinoid. Retinoids are vitamin A derivatives that enter skin cells and switch on retinoic acid receptors in the nucleus, which changes how genes are read. This normalizes how skin cells grow and shed, unclogs pores, calms inflammation, and over time boosts collagen production. If you are checking whether it is safe to combine with something else, the class is what matters — two drugs from the same class usually should not be stacked.
Can you take adapalene with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run adapalene against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What forms does adapalene come in?
Across the brands we track, adapalene is currently marketed as topical, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic adapalene?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled adapalene product. That does not always mean none exists — it means none appears under a generic name in the FDA data we track. Ask your pharmacist.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Adapalene: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/adapalene
- MLA
- “Adapalene: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/adapalene.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for adapalene on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.