Ferumoxytol: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Ferumoxytol is a parenteral iron replacement sold in the U.S. under 2 brand and generic names, for iron-deficiency anemia. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Drug class
- Parenteral Iron Replacement
- Treats
- Iron-Deficiency Anemia
- Available as
- Injectable
- Sold as
- 2 products — Ferabright and Feraheme
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
- Boxed warning
- Boxed warning
How ferumoxytol is dosed
From the FDA label for Feraheme (application NDA022180). Other ferumoxytol products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
The recommended dose of Feraheme is an initial 510 mg dose followed by a second 510 mg dose 3 to 8 days later. Administer Feraheme as an intravenous infusion in 50-200 mL 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection, USP or 5% Dextrose Injection, USP over at least 15 minutes. Take measures to avoid extravasation, as this can lead to skin discoloration or staining, which may be long lasting. If extravasation occurs, discontinue Feraheme administration at that site. Administer while the patient is in a reclined or semi-reclined position. Feraheme does not contain antimicrobial preservatives. Discard unused portion. Feraheme, when added to intravenous infusion bags containing either 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection, USP (normal saline), or 5% Dextrose Injection, USP, at concentrations of 2-8 mg elemental iron per mL, should be used immediately but may be stored at controlled room temperature (25°C ± 2°C) for up to 4 hours or refrigerated (2-8° C) for up to 48 hours. The dosage is expressed in terms of mg of elemental iron, with each mL of Feraheme containing 30 mg of elemental iron. Evaluate the hematologic response (hemoglobin, ferritin, iron and transferrin saturation) at least one month following the second Feraheme infusion. The recommended Feraheme dose may be readministered to patients with persistent or recurrent iron deficiency anemia. For patients receiving hemodialysis, administer…
Ferumoxytol side effects
The following clinically significant adverse reactions are described elsewhere in the labeling: • Serious Hypersensitivity Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.1 )] • Hypotension [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.2 )] • Iron Overload [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.3 )] • Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging Test Interference [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.4 )] The most common adverse reactions (≥ 2%) are diarrhea, headache, nausea, dizziness, hypotension, constipation, and peripheral edema. ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS with Feraheme, contact AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. at 1-877-411-2510, 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 to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. In clinical studies, 3,968 subjects were exposed to Feraheme. Of these subjects 31% were male and the median age was 54 years (range of 18 to 96 years). The data described below reflect exposure to Feraheme in 997 patients exposed to a 1.02 g course of ferumoxytol administered as two 510 mg intravenous (IV) doses: 992 subjects (99.5%) received at least 1 complete dose of ferumoxytol and 946 subjects (94.9%) received 2 complete…
Who shouldn’t take ferumoxytol
Feraheme is contraindicated in patients with: • Known hypersensitivity to Feraheme or any of its components [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.1 )] • History of allergic reaction to any intravenous iron product [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.1 )] • Known hypersensitivity to Feraheme or any of its components. ( 4 ) • History of allergic reaction to any intravenous iron product. ( 4 )
Ferumoxytol drug interactions
Drug-drug interaction studies with Feraheme were not conducted. Feraheme may reduce the absorption of concomitantly administered oral iron preparations.
Every ferumoxytol product we track (2)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 70/100 | Prescription | Injectable | No data | — | View → | |
| 2 | 70/100 | Prescription | Injectable | No data | — | View → |
How long ferumoxytol keeps
No ferumoxytol 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 ferumoxytol expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsFerumoxytol and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for ferumoxytol: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadNo information is available on the use of ferumoxytol during breastfeeding; however, the drug has been given safely to neonates intravenously as a magnetic resonance contrast agent. For additional information on iron use during breastfeeding, see the monograph on Iron Salts.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised December 15, 2025. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about ferumoxytol
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 314 reports naming ferumoxytol, and the FDA flagged 80% 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:
- dyspnoea87 reports
- infusion related reaction69 reports
- nausea48 reports
- anaphylactic reaction39 reports
- hypotension33 reports
- back pain30 reports
- flushing29 reports
- vomiting29 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean ferumoxytol 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 August 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is ferumoxytol?
Feraheme is an iron replacement product containing ferumoxytol for intravenous infusion. Ferumoxytol is a non-stoichiometric magnetite (superparamagnetic iron oxide) coated with polyglucose sorbitol carboxymethylether. The overall colloidal particle size is 17-31 nm in diameter.
What kind of drug is ferumoxytol?
The FDA classifies ferumoxytol as a parenteral iron replacement. Given by injection or IV, these supply iron directly into the bloodstream wrapped in a protective carbohydrate shell. The iron is gradually released, picked up by the protein transferrin, and delivered to the bone marrow, where it is used to build hemoglobin and treat iron-deficiency anemia. 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 ferumoxytol 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 ferumoxytol against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is ferumoxytol sold under?
We track 2 ferumoxytol-containing products in the U.S.: Ferabright and Feraheme. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does ferumoxytol come in?
Across the brands we track, ferumoxytol 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 ferumoxytol?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled ferumoxytol 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). Ferumoxytol: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/ferumoxytol
- MLA
- “Ferumoxytol: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/ferumoxytol.
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 ferumoxytol on DailyMed (NIH) ↗ — including its boxed warning in full.