Auranofin: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Auranofin is a medicine sold in the U.S. under one brand, for rheumatoid arthritis, pemphigus and psoriatic arthritis. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Treats
- Rheumatoid Arthritis, Pemphigus and Psoriatic Arthritis
- Available as
- Capsule
- Sold as
- Ridaura
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
- Boxed warning
- Boxed warning
How auranofin is dosed
From the FDA label for Ridaura (application NDA018689). Other auranofin products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Usual Adult Dosage: The usual adult dosage of RIDAURA (auranofin) is 6 mg daily, given either as 3 mg twice daily or 6 mg once daily. Initiation of therapy at dosages exceeding 6 mg daily is not recommended because it is associated with an increased incidence of diarrhea. If response is inadequate after six months, an increase to 9 mg (3 mg three times daily) may be tolerated. If response remains inadequate after a three-month trial of 9 mg daily, RIDAURA therapy should be discontinued. Safety at dosages exceeding 9 mg daily has not been studied. Transferring from Injectable Gold: In controlled clinical studies, patients on injectable gold have been transferred to RIDAURA (auranofin) by discontinuing the injectable agent and starting oral therapy with RIDAURA, 6 mg daily. When patients are transferred to RIDAURA, they should be informed of its adverse reaction profile, in particular the gastrointestinal reactions. (See PRECAUTIONS— Information for Patients .) At six months, control of disease activity of patients transferred to RIDAURA and those maintained on the injectable agent was not different. Data beyond six months are not available.
Auranofin side effects
The adverse reactions incidences listed below are based on observations of 1) 4,784 RIDAURA treated patients in clinical trials (2,474 U.S., 2,310 foreign), of whom 2,729 were treated more than one year and 573 for more than three years; and 2) postmarketing experience. The highest incidence is during the first six months of treatment; however, reactions can occur after many months of therapy. With rare exceptions, all patients were on concomitant nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory therapy; some of them were also taking low dosages of corticosteroids. Reactions occurring in more than 1% of RIDAURA-treated patients Gastrointestinal: loose stools or diarrhea (47%); abdominal pain (14%); nausea with or without vomiting (10%); constipation; anorexia*; flatulence*; dyspepsia*; dysgeusia. Dermatological: rash (24%); pruritus (17%); hair loss; urticaria. Mucous Membrane: stomatitis (13%); conjunctivitis*; glossitis. Hematological: anemia; leukopenia; thrombocytopenia; eosinophilia. Renal: proteinuria*; hematuria. Hepatic: elevated liver enzymes. *Reactions marked with an asterisk occurred in 3-9% of the patients. The other reactions listed occurred in 1-3%. Reactions occurring in less than 1% of RIDAURA-treated patients Gastrointestinal: dysphagia; gastrointestinal bleeding†; melena†; positive stool for occult blood†; ulcerative enterocolitis. Dermatological: angioedema. Mucous Membrane:…
Who shouldn’t take auranofin
RIDAURA (auranofin) is contraindicated in patients with a history of any of the following gold-induced disorders: anaphylactic reactions, necrotizing enterocolitis, pulmonary fibrosis, exfoliative dermatitis, bone marrow aplasia or other severe hematologic disorders.
Auranofin drug interactions
In a single patient-report, there is the suggestion that concurrent administration of RIDAURA and phenytoin may have increased phenytoin blood levels.
Every auranofin 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: Ridaura.
What auranofin pills look like
Imprint codes, colour and shape from the FDA’s labelling data. Match the imprint on your pill — or search any imprint.
Auranofin and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for auranofin: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadExcretion of gold into milk after auranofin has not been studied. Case reports with other gold salts indicate that gold appears in milk in small quantities and at least a little of it is absorbed because it is detectable in the infant's urine. No convincing cases of toxicity have been reported. Opinions of authors of review articles vary from recommending avoidance to allowing use. Monitoring for possible adverse effects in the breastfed infant would seem prudent.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised July 15, 2024. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about auranofin
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 97 reports naming auranofin, and the FDA flagged 88% 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:
- nausea13 reports
- vomiting9 reports
- pneumonia7 reports
- sepsis6 reports
- anaemia5 reports
- platelet count decreased5 reports
- rhabdomyolysis5 reports
- constipation4 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean auranofin 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 auranofin?
RIDAURA (auranofin) is available in oral form as capsules containing 3 mg auranofin. Auranofin is (2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-1-thio-ß-D-glucopyranosato-S-) (triethyl–phosphine) gold. Auranofin contains 29% gold and has the following chemical structure: Each RIDAURA capsule, with opaque brown cap and opaque tan body, contains auranofin, 3 mg, and is imprinted with the product name RIDAURA. Inactive ingredients consist of benzyl alcohol, cellulose, cetylpyridinium chloride, D&C Red No. 33, FD&C Blue No. 1, FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 6, gelatin, lactose, magnesium stearate, povidone, sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium starch glycolate, starch, titanium dioxide and trace amounts of other inactive ingredients. Chemical Structure
Can you take auranofin 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 auranofin 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 auranofin come in?
Across the brands we track, auranofin is currently marketed as capsule, 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 auranofin?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled auranofin 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). Auranofin: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/auranofin
- MLA
- “Auranofin: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/auranofin.
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 auranofin on DailyMed (NIH) ↗ — including its boxed warning in full.