Atovaquone: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Atovaquone is an antimalarial sold in the U.S. under one brand, for pneumocystis pneumonia and cerebral toxoplasmosis. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Drug class
- Antimalarial
- Treats
- Pneumocystis Pneumonia and Cerebral Toxoplasmosis
- Available as
- Suspension
- Sold as
- Mepron
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
- What the pharmacy pays
- about $0.71 per ml — not your price
How atovaquone is dosed
From the FDA label for Mepron (application NDA020500). Other atovaquone products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Prevention of PCP: 1,500 mg (10 mL) once daily with food ( 2.1 ) • Treatment of PCP: 750 mg (5 mL) twice daily with food for 21 days ( 2.2 ) • Supplied in foil pouches and bottles: o Foil Pouch: For a 5-mL dose, take entire contents by mouth either by dispensing into a spoon or cup or directly into the mouth. For a 10-mL dose, take entire contents of 2 pouches. ( 2.3 ) o Bottle: Shake bottle gently before use. ( 2.3 ) 2.1 Dosage for the Prevention of P. jirovecii Pneumonia The recommended oral dosage is 1,500 mg (10 mL) once daily administered with food. 2.2 Dosage for the Treatment of Mild-to-Moderate P. jirovecii Pneumonia The recommended oral dosage is 750 mg (5 mL) twice daily (total daily dose = 1,500 mg) administered with food for 21 days. 2.3 Important Administration Instructions Administer MEPRON oral suspension with food to avoid low plasma atovaquone concentrations that may limit response to therapy [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.1 ), Clinical Pharmacology ( 12.3 )]. MEPRON Foil Pouch • Open each 5-mL pouch by folding along the dotted line and tearing open at horizontal slit as directed by arrow on pouch. • For a 5-mL dose, take entire contents either by placing directly into the mouth or by dispensing into a dosing spoon (5 mL) or cup prior to administration by mouth. • For a 10-mL dose, take the entire contents of 2 pouches. MEPRON Bottle Shake bottle gently…
Atovaquone side effects
The following adverse reactions are discussed in another section of the labeling: • Hepatotoxicity [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.2 )]. • Severe Cutaneous Adverse Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.3 )] . • PCP Prevention: The most frequent adverse reactions (≥25% that required discontinuation) were diarrhea, rash, headache, nausea, and fever. ( 6.1 ) • PCP Treatment: The most frequent adverse reactions (≥14% that required discontinuation) were rash (including maculopapular), nausea, diarrhea, headache, vomiting, and fever. ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact GlaxoSmithKline at 1-888-825-5249 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 reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared with rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. Additionally, because many subjects who participated in clinical trials with MEPRON had complications of advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease, it was often difficult to distinguish adverse reactions caused by MEPRON from those caused by underlying medical conditions. PCP Prevention Trials In 2 clinical trials, MEPRON oral suspension was compared with dapsone or aerosolized pentamidine in HIV-1–infected…
Who shouldn’t take atovaquone
MEPRON oral suspension is contraindicated in patients who develop or have a history of hypersensitivity reactions to atovaquone or any of the components of MEPRON [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.3 ), Adverse Reactions ( 6.2 )] . Known serious allergic/hypersensitivity reaction to atovaquone or any of the components of MEPRON. ( 4 )
Atovaquone drug interactions
Concomitant administration of rifampin or rifabutin reduces atovaquone concentrations; concomitant use with MEPRON oral suspension is not recommended. ( 7.1 ) • Concomitant administration of tetracycline reduces atovaquone concentrations; use caution when coadministering. Monitor patients for potential loss of efficacy of MEPRON if coadministration of tetracycline is necessary. ( 7.2 ) • Concomitant administration with metoclopramide reduces atovaquone concentrations; administer concomitantly only if other antiemetics are not available. ( 7.3 ) • Concomitant administration of indinavir reduces indinavir trough concentrations; use caution when coadministering. Monitor patients for potential loss of efficacy of indinavir if coadministration is necessary. ( 7.4 ) 7.1 Rifampin/Rifabutin Concomitant administration of rifampin or rifabutin and MEPRON oral suspension is known to reduce atovaquone concentrations [see Clinical Pharmacology ( 12.3 )] . Concomitant administration of MEPRON oral suspension and rifampin or rifabutin is not recommended. 7.2 Tetracycline Concomitant administration of tetracycline and MEPRON oral suspension has been associated with a reduction in plasma concentrations of atovaquone [see Clinical Pharmacology ( 12.3 )]. Caution should be used when prescribing tetracycline concomitantly with MEPRON oral suspension. Monitor patients for potential loss of efficacy of MEPRON if coadministration is necessary. 7.3 Metoclopramide Metoclopramide may reduce the bioavailability of atovaquone and should be used only if other antiemetics are not available [see Clinical Pharmacology ( 12.3 )]. 7.4 Indinavir Concomitant administration of atovaquone and indinavir did not result in any change in the steady-state AUC and C max of indinavir but resulted in a decrease in the C trough of indinavir [see Clinical Pharmacology ( 12.3 )]. Caution should be exercised when prescribing MEPRON oral suspension with indinavir due to the decrease in trough concentrations of indinavir. Monitor patients for potential loss of efficacy of indinavir if coadministration with MEPRON oral suspension is necessary.
Every atovaquone 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: Mepron.
Combination products containing atovaquone
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.
Atovaquone recalls
From the FDA Enforcement database. A recall covers specific lots — not the drug as a whole.
Atovaquone Oral Suspension
Microbial Contamination of a Non-sterile Product: The product was found to be contaminated with Cohnella bacteria.
Bionpharma Inc. · Sep 17, 2024
Atovaquone Oral Suspension USP
Microbial contamination of a non-sterile product: potential Bacillus cereus contamination.
AvKARE · Mar 28, 2024
How long atovaquone keeps
No atovaquone 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 atovaquone expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsAtovaquone and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for atovaquone: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadNo information is available on the use of atovaquone during breastfeeding. However, the quantity of drug in breast milk is assumed too low to provide adequate protection against malaria for the breastfed infant. A dosage has been established for infants weighing as little as 5 kg, so it is unlikely to adversely affect breastfed infants weighing 5 kg or more.
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 atovaquone
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 7,301 reports naming atovaquone, and the FDA flagged 87% 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:
- nausea515 reports
- pneumonia500 reports
- vomiting403 reports
- diarrhoea390 reports
- pyrexia386 reports
- fatigue253 reports
- dyspnoea252 reports
- rash244 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean atovaquone 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 atovaquone?
MEPRON (atovaquone oral suspension) is a quinone antimicrobial drug.
What kind of drug is atovaquone?
The FDA classifies atovaquone as an antimalarial. 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 atovaquone 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 atovaquone 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 atovaquone come in?
Across the brands we track, atovaquone is currently marketed as suspension, 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 atovaquone?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled atovaquone 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.
Has atovaquone been recalled?
The FDA's Enforcement database lists 2 recall records whose product description mentions atovaquone. The most recent: Atovaquone Oral Suspension (Sep 17, 2024). A recall applies to specific lots, not to the drug as a whole — check the record for the affected lot numbers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Atovaquone: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/atovaquone
- MLA
- “Atovaquone: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/atovaquone.
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 atovaquone on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.