Apalutamide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Apalutamide is a medicine sold in the U.S. under one brand, for prostatic neoplasms. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Treats
- Prostatic Neoplasms
- Available as
- Tablet
- Sold as
- Erleada
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
How apalutamide is dosed
From the FDA label for Erleada (application NDA210951). Other apalutamide products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
ERLEADA 240 mg orally once daily. Swallow tablets whole. ERLEADA can be taken with or without food. ( 2.1 ) The recommended ERLEADA dosage in patients with severe hepatic impairment is 120 mg orally once daily. ( 2.3 ) Patients should also receive a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analog concurrently or should have had bilateral orchiectomy. ( 2.1 ) 2.1 Recommended Dosage The recommended dosage of ERLEADA is 240 mg orally once daily. ERLEADA can be taken with or without food [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ] . Swallow the tablet(s) whole. Do not crush or split tablet(s). Patients should also receive a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analog concurrently or should have had a bilateral orchiectomy. 2.2 Dosage Modifications for Adverse Reactions If Grade 3 or 4 adverse reactions, or other intolerable adverse reactions occur, withhold ERLEADA. Consider permanent discontinuation of ERLEADA for Grade 3 or 4 cerebrovascular and ischemic cardiovascular events [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] . Permanently discontinue ERLEADA for severe ILD/pneumonitis or if no other potential causes of ILD/pneumonitis are identified, or confirmed SCARs, or for other Grade 4 skin reactions [see Warnings and Precautions (5.5 , 5.6) and Adverse Reactions (6.1) ] . For other adverse reactions, including those that may be related to increased exposure to ERLEADA due to drug interactions…
Apalutamide side effects
The following are discussed in more detail in other sections of the labeling: Cerebrovascular and Ischemic Cardiovascular Events [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] . Fractures [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ] . Falls [see Warnings and Precautions (5.3) ] . Seizure [see Warnings and Precautions (5.4) ] . Severe Cutaneous Adverse Reactions (SCARs) [see Warnings and Precautions (5.5) ] . Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) [see Warnings and Precautions (5.6) ] . The most common adverse reactions (≥10%) are fatigue, arthralgia, rash, decreased appetite, fall, weight decreased, hypertension, hot flush, diarrhea, and fracture. ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Janssen Products, LP at 1-800-526-7736 (1-800-JANSSEN) or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch. 6.1 Clinical Trial Experience Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction 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. The most common adverse reactions (≥ 10%) that occurred more frequently in the ERLEADA-treated patients (≥ 2% over placebo) from the randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials (TITAN and SPARTAN) were fatigue, arthralgia, rash, decreased appetite, fall, weight decreased, hypertension, hot flush, diarrhea,…
Who shouldn’t take apalutamide
None. ( 4 ) None.
Apalutamide drug interactions
Concomitant use with medications that are sensitive substrates of CYP3A4, CYP2C19, CYP2C9, UGT, P-gp, BCRP, or OATP1B1 may result in loss of activity of these medications. ( 7.2 ) 7.1 Effect of Other Drugs on ERLEADA Strong CYP2C8 or CYP3A4 Inhibitors Reduce the ERLEADA dose as recommended for adverse reactions [see Dosage and Administration (2.2) ] . Co-administration of a strong CYP2C8 or CYP3A4 inhibitor is predicted to increase the steady-state exposure of the active moieties (sum of unbound apalutamide plus the potency-adjusted unbound N-desmethyl-apalutamide). 7.2 Effect of ERLEADA on Other Drugs Substrates of CYP3A4, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, P-gp, BCRP, or OATP1B1 Refer to the Prescribing Information for these substrates. Consider alternative agents when possible or evaluate for loss of activity of the substrate if concomitant use cannot be avoided. Apalutamide is a strong inducer of CYP3A4 and CYP2C19, a weak inducer of CYP2C9, and an inducer of P-gp, BCRP, and OATP1B1. Apalutamide decreases exposure of substrates of CYP3A4, CYP2C19, CYP2C9, P-gp, BCRP, or OATP1B1 [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ] , which may decrease the effectiveness of these substrates. 7.3 Laboratory Test Interference ERLEADA can interfere with certain digoxin immunoassays (e.g., Chemiluminescent Microparticle Immunoassays), resulting in falsely elevated digoxin plasma concentration results. Notify the laboratory conducting the digoxin plasma concentration assay to use an appropriate method in patients receiving ERLEADA and digoxin [see Warnings and Precautions (5.8) ] .
Every apalutamide 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: Erleada.
What apalutamide pills look like
Imprint codes, colour and shape from the FDA’s labelling data. Match the imprint on your pill — or search any imprint.
Can you crush or split apalutamide?
At least one apalutamideproduct is labelled to be swallowed whole — crushing an extended-release tablet releases the whole day’s dose at once. Which applies depends on the form you were given.
What each apalutamide label says about crushing, splitting and chewingWhat people report to the FDA about apalutamide
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 1,351 reports naming apalutamide, and the FDA flagged 86% 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:
- hot flush109 reports
- fatigue100 reports
- rash84 reports
- asthenia63 reports
- fall47 reports
- incorrect dosage administered45 reports
- arthralgia42 reports
- diarrhoea40 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean apalutamide 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.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is apalutamide?
Apalutamide, the active ingredient of ERLEADA, is an androgen receptor inhibitor. Each ERLEADA tablet contains either 60 mg or 240 mg of apalutamide.
Can you take apalutamide 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 apalutamide 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 apalutamide come in?
Across the brands we track, apalutamide is currently marketed as tablet, 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 apalutamide?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled apalutamide 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). Apalutamide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/apalutamide
- MLA
- “Apalutamide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/apalutamide.
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 apalutamide on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.