Choriogonadotropin Alfa: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Choriogonadotropin Alfa is a gonadotropin sold in the U.S. under one brand, for cryptorchidism, hypogonadism and female infertility. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Drug class
- Gonadotropin
- Treats
- Cryptorchidism, Hypogonadism and Female Infertility
- Available as
- Injectable
- Sold as
- Ovidrel
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
How choriogonadotropin alfa is dosed
From the FDA label for Ovidrel (application BLA021149). Other choriogonadotropin alfa products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
For Subcutaneous Use Only Infertile Women Undergoing Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) Ovidrel ® PreFilled Syringe 250 µg should be administered one day following the last dose of the follicle stimulating agent. Ovidrel ® PreFilled Syringe should not be administered until adequate follicular development is indicated by serum estradiol and vaginal ultrasonography. Administration should be withheld in situations where there is an excessive ovarian response, as evidenced by clinically significant ovarian enlargement or excessive estradiol production. Infertile Women Undergoing Ovulation Induction (OI) Ovidrel ® PreFilled Syringe should not be administered until adequate follicular development is indicated by serum estradiol and vaginal ultrasonography. Ovidrel ® PreFilled Syringe 250 µg should be administered one day following the last dose of the follicle stimulating agent. Ovidrel ® PreFilled Syringe administration should be withheld in situations where there is an excessive ovarian response, as evidenced by multiple follicular development, clinically significant ovarian enlargement or excessive estradiol production. Directions for Administration of Ovidrel ® Prefilled Syringe Ovidrel ® PreFilled Syringe is intended for a single subcutaneous injection. Any unused material should be discarded. Ovidrel ® PreFilled Syringe may be self-administered by the patient. Follow the…
Choriogonadotropin Alfa side effects
(see WARNINGS ) The safety of Ovidrel ® was examined in four clinical studies that treated 752 patients of whom 335 received Ovidrel ® 250 µg following follicular recruitment with gonadotropins. When patients enrolled in four clinical studies (3 in ART and one in OI) were injected subcutaneously with either Ovidrel ® or an approved urinary-derived hCG, 14.6 % (49 of 335 patients) in the Ovidrel ® 250 µg group experienced application site disorders compared to 28% (92 of 328 patients) in the approved u-hCG group. Adverse events reported for Ovidrel ® 250 µg occurring in at least 2% of patients (regardless of causality) are listed in Table 9 for the 3 ART studies and in Table 10 for the single OI study. Table 9: Incidence of Adverse Events of r-hCG in ART (Studies 7648, 7927, 9073) Body System Ovidrel ® 250 µg (n=236) Preferred Term Incidence Rate % (n) At Least One Adverse Event 33.1% (78) Application Site Disorders 14.0% (33) Injection Site Pain 7.6% (18) Injection Site Bruising 4.7% (11) Gastro-Intestinal System Disorders 8.5% (20) Abdominal Pain 4.2% (10) Nausea 3.4% ( 8) Vomiting 2.5% ( 6) Secondary Terms (Post-Operative Pain) 4.7% (11) Post-Operative Pain 4.7% (11) Adverse events not listed in Table 9 that occurred in less than 2% of patients treated with Ovidrel ® 250 µg whether or not considered causally related to Ovidrel ® , included: injection site inflammation and…
Who shouldn’t take choriogonadotropin alfa
Ovidrel ® PreFilled Syringe (choriogonadotropin alfa injection) is contraindicated in women who exhibit: Prior hypersensitivity to hCG preparations or one of their excipients. Primary ovarian failure. Uncontrolled thyroid or adrenal dysfunction. An uncontrolled organic intracranial lesion such as a pituitary tumor. Abnormal uterine bleeding of undetermined origin (see " Selection of Patients " ). Ovarian cyst or enlargement of undetermined origin (see " Selection of Patients " ). Sex hormone dependent tumors of the reproductive tract and accessory organs. Pregnancy.
Every choriogonadotropin alfa 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: Ovidrel.
How long choriogonadotropin alfa keeps
The date on a sealed pack is not the only one: some choriogonadotropin alfa labels start a second clock once the product is opened or mixed, as short as 30 days.
Does choriogonadotropin alfa expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsWhat people report to the FDA about choriogonadotropin alfa
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 608 reports naming choriogonadotropin alfa, and the FDA flagged 99% 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:
- ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome309 reports
- ascites64 reports
- abdominal pain38 reports
- dyspnoea35 reports
- pleural effusion35 reports
- nausea28 reports
- abdominal distension26 reports
- vomiting22 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean choriogonadotropin alfa 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 choriogonadotropin alfa?
Ovidrel (Choriogonadotropin Alfa) is a gonadotropin used to treat Cryptorchidism, Hypogonadism, Female Infertility.
What kind of drug is choriogonadotropin alfa?
The FDA classifies choriogonadotropin alfa as a gonadotropin. 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 choriogonadotropin alfa 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 choriogonadotropin alfa 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 choriogonadotropin alfa come in?
Across the brands we track, choriogonadotropin alfa 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 choriogonadotropin alfa?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled choriogonadotropin alfa 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). Choriogonadotropin Alfa: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/choriogonadotropin-alfa
- MLA
- “Choriogonadotropin Alfa: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/choriogonadotropin-alfa.
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 choriogonadotropin alfa on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.