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Besifloxacin: uses, dosing, side effects & brands

Besifloxacin is a quinolone antimicrobial sold in the U.S. under one brand. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.

By the pharmaranks editorial teamReviewed against the FDA (openFDA label, NDC Directory & Enforcement) sourcesUpdated Jul 24, 2026How we research

Key facts

Drug class
Quinolone Antimicrobial
Available as
Suspension
Sold as
Besivance
Prescription?
Prescription only
Generic available?
Not in our catalog

How besifloxacin is dosed

From the FDA label for Besivance (application NDA022308). Other besifloxacin products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.

Invert closed bottle and shake once before use. Instill one drop in the affected eye(s) 3 times a day, 4 to 12 hours apart for 7 days. Instill one drop in the affected eye(s) 3 times a day, 4 to 12 hours apart for 7 days. ( 2 )

Besifloxacin side effects

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 clinical practice. The data described below reflect exposure to BESIVANCE in approximately 1,000 patients between 1 and 98 years old with clinical signs and symptoms of bacterial conjunctivitis. The most frequently reported ocular adverse reaction was conjunctival redness, reported in approximately 2% of patients. Other adverse reactions reported in patients receiving BESIVANCE occurring in approximately 1-2% of patients included: blurred vision, eye pain, eye irritation, eye pruritus and headache. The most common adverse reaction reported in 2% of patients treated with BESIVANCE was conjunctival redness. ( 6 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Bausch & Lomb Incorporated at 1-800-553-5340 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch .

Who shouldn’t take besifloxacin

None. None. ( 4 )

Besifloxacin and food

Every besifloxacin 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: Besivance.

How long besifloxacin keeps

No besifloxacin 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 besifloxacin expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labels

What people report to the FDA about besifloxacin

The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 11 reports naming besifloxacin, and the FDA flagged 73% 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:

  • hypersensitivity6 reports
  • eye irritation2 reports
  • acute kidney injury1 reports
  • arthralgia1 reports
  • back pain1 reports
  • blood chloride increased1 reports
  • blood creatinine increased1 reports
  • blood urea increased1 reports

Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean besifloxacin 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 guides

Calcium, iron & absorption →

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Frequently asked questions

What is besifloxacin?

BESIVANCE ® (besifloxacin ophthalmic suspension) 0.6% is a sterile ophthalmic suspension of besifloxacin formulated with DuraSite ® † (polycarbophil, edetate disodium dihydrate, sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide, and water for injection). Each mL of BESIVANCE contains 6.63 mg besifloxacin hydrochloride equivalent to 6 mg besifloxacin base. It is an 8-chloro fluoroquinolone anti-infective for topical ophthalmic use.

What kind of drug is besifloxacin?

The FDA classifies besifloxacin as a quinolone antimicrobial. 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 besifloxacin 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 besifloxacin 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 besifloxacin come in?

Across the brands we track, besifloxacin 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 besifloxacin?

We do not currently list a generic-labelled besifloxacin 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.

What should I avoid while taking besifloxacin?

Food: milk and other dairy, calcium- or iron-fortified foods and supplements, and antacids — see the food section above for what each one does and whether it means avoiding it or just being consistent. This is what the FDA label and our cited sources say — it is not a complete list. Your pharmacist can check your own combination.

Cite this page
APA
pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Besifloxacin: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/besifloxacin
MLA
“Besifloxacin: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/besifloxacin.

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 besifloxacin on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.