Bevacizumab: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Bevacizumab is a vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor sold in the U.S. under one brand, for non-small-cell lung carcinoma, uterine cervical neoplasms and fallopian tube neoplasms. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Drug class
- Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Inhibitor
- Treats
- Non-Small-Cell Lung Carcinoma, Uterine Cervical Neoplasms and Fallopian Tube Neoplasms
- Available as
- Injectable
- Sold as
- Avastin
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
How bevacizumab is dosed
From the FDA label for Avastin (application BLA125085). Other bevacizumab products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Withhold for at least 28 days prior to elective surgery. Do not administer Avastin for 28 days following major surgery and until adequate wound healing. ( 2.1 ) Metastatic colorectal cancer ( 2.2 ) 5 mg/kg every 2 weeks with bolus-IFL 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks with FOLFOX4 5 mg/ kg every 2 weeks or 7.5 mg/kg every 3 weeks with fluoropyrimidine-irinotecan- or fluoropyrimidine-oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy after progression on a first-line bevacizumab product-containing regimen First-line non–squamous non–small cell lung cancer ( 2.3 ) 15 mg/kg every 3 weeks with carboplatin and paclitaxel Recurrent glioblastoma ( 2.4 ) 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks Metastatic renal cell carcinoma ( 2.5 ) 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks with interferon alfa Persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer ( 2.6 ) 15 mg/kg every 3 weeks with paclitaxel and cisplatin, or paclitaxel and topotecan Stage III or IV epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer following initial surgical resection ( 2.7 ) 15 mg/kg every 3 weeks with carboplatin and paclitaxel for up to 6 cycles, followed by 15 mg/kg every 3 weeks as a single agent, for a total of up to 22 cycles Platinum-resistant recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer ( 2.7 ) 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks with paclitaxel, pegylated liposomal doxorubicin, or topotecan given every week 15 mg/kg every 3 weeks with…
Bevacizumab side effects
The following clinically significant adverse reactions are described elsewhere in the labeling: Gastrointestinal Perforations and Fistulae [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] . Surgery and Wound Healing Complications [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ]. Hemorrhage [see Warnings and Precautions (5.3) ]. Arterial Thromboembolic Events [see Warnings and Precautions (5.4) ]. Venous Thromboembolic Events [see Warnings and Precautions (5.5) ]. Hypertension [see Warnings and Precautions (5.6) ]. Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome [see Warnings and Precautions (5.7) ]. Renal Injury and Proteinuria [see Warnings and Precautions (5.8) ]. Infusion-Related Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions (5.9) ]. Ovarian Failure [see Warnings and Precautions (5.11) ]. Congestive Heart Failure [see Warnings and Precautions (5.12) ]. Most common adverse reactions incidence (incidence > 10%) are epistaxis, headache, hypertension, rhinitis, proteinuria, taste alteration, dry skin, hemorrhage, lacrimation disorder, back pain and exfoliative dermatitis. ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Genentech, Inc. at 1-888-835-2555 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch. 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience Because clinical studies are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical studies of a drug cannot be directly compared to…
Who shouldn’t take bevacizumab
None. None ( 4 )
Bevacizumab drug interactions
Effects of Avastin on Other Drugs No clinically meaningful effect on the pharmacokinetics of irinotecan or its active metabolite SN38, interferon alfa, carboplatin or paclitaxel was observed when Avastin was administered in combination with these drugs; however, 3 of the 8 patients receiving Avastin with paclitaxel and carboplatin had lower paclitaxel exposure after four cycles of treatment (at Day 63) than those at Day 0, while patients receiving paclitaxel and carboplatin alone had a greater paclitaxel exposure at Day 63 than at Day 0.
Every bevacizumab 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: Avastin.
Bevacizumab recalls
From the FDA Enforcement database. A recall covers specific lots — not the drug as a whole.
How long bevacizumab keeps
No bevacizumab 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 bevacizumab expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsBevacizumab and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for bevacizumab: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadNo information is available on the intravenous use of bevacizumab during breastfeeding. Because bevacizumab is a large protein molecule with a molecular weight of about 149,000 Da, the amount in milk is likely to be very low. It is also likely to be partially destroyed in the infant's gastrointestinal tract and absorption by the infant is probably minimal. Until more data become available, intravenous bevacizumab should be used with caution during breastfeeding, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant. The manufacturer recommends that breastfeeding be discontinued during systemic bevacizumab therapy and for 6 months following the last dose.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised July 15, 2025. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about bevacizumab
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 60,013 reports naming bevacizumab, and the FDA flagged 96% 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:
- diarrhoea4,470 reports
- nausea3,666 reports
- hypertension3,597 reports
- fatigue3,452 reports
- anaemia3,145 reports
- neutropenia2,979 reports
- vomiting2,893 reports
- thrombocytopenia2,416 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean bevacizumab 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 bevacizumab?
Avastin (Bevacizumab) is a vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor used to treat Non-Small-Cell Lung Carcinoma, Uterine Cervical Neoplasms, Fallopian Tube Neoplasms, Glioblastoma.
What kind of drug is bevacizumab?
The FDA classifies bevacizumab as a vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor. VEGF inhibitors block VEGF, the signal that tells the body to grow new blood vessels. By soaking up or blocking this signal, they starve tumors of the new vessels they need to grow, or calm the leaky abnormal vessels that damage the retina in eye diseases. 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 bevacizumab 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 bevacizumab 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 bevacizumab come in?
Across the brands we track, bevacizumab is currently marketed as injectable, 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 bevacizumab?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled bevacizumab 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 bevacizumab been recalled?
The FDA's Enforcement database lists 3 recall records whose product description mentions bevacizumab. The most recent: Bevacizumab 1.75 mg/0.07 mL (Sep 22, 2025). 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). Bevacizumab: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/bevacizumab
- MLA
- “Bevacizumab: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/bevacizumab.
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 bevacizumab on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.