Methoxsalen: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Methoxsalen is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 3 brand and generic names. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Capsule · Topical
- Sold as
- 3 products — 8-Mop, Oxsoralen and Oxsoralen-Ultra
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
- Half-life
- approximately 2 hours
Every methoxsalen product we track (3)
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 | 74/100 | Prescription | Capsule | No data | — | View → | |
| 2 | 74/100 | Prescription | Topical | No data | — | View → | |
| 3 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Capsule | No data | — | View → |
What methoxsalen pills look like
Imprint codes, colour and shape from the FDA’s labelling data. Match the imprint on your pill — or search any imprint.
| Imprint | Strength | Colour | Shape | Maker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M10 | 10 mg | green | oval | — |
Methoxsalen and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for methoxsalen: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadNo information is available on the use of methoxsalen during breastfeeding. Expert opinion indicates that due to the photosensitizing effects of methoxsalen, breastfeeding should be withheld for 24 hours after an oral dose to allow for 95% of the drug to be eliminated in the mother's urine. The same precaution probably applies to patients receiving methoxsalen as a part of therapy for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Use of topical methoxsalen is not contraindicated during breastfeeding, but avoid direct contact of the treated skin with the skin of the infant.
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 methoxsalen
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 146 reports naming methoxsalen, and the FDA flagged 85% 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:
- vomiting13 reports
- dysphagia12 reports
- fatigue10 reports
- drug intolerance9 reports
- pruritus9 reports
- abdominal pain8 reports
- cardiac failure8 reports
- constipation7 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean methoxsalen 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.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved August 25, 2026.
How long methoxsalen stays in your system
The elimination half-life of methoxsalen is approximately 2 hours. The oral methoxsalen (PUVA) label reports a single "drug half-life is approximately 2 hours" without separating a distribution and a terminal phase, so 2 hours is the elimination half-life as stated. Detectable methoxsalen blood levels persist up to about 12 hours post-dose. The drug is rapidly metabolized, with roughly 95% excreted as metabolites in the urine within 24 hours; the label does not name any active metabolite that outlasts the parent, so photosensitivity is driven by the parent drug plus UVA exposure. The label does not state how the half-life changes with older age, kidney impairment, or liver impairment. This is a pharmacokinetic half-life, not a drug-test detection window and not dosing guidance.
Methoxsalen Capsules (oral) — FDA label, DailyMed ↗Half-life is how long the body takes to clear half a dose. It is not the same as how long a drug test can detect it, and it varies with age, kidney and liver function.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
How long does methoxsalen stay in your system?
The elimination half-life of methoxsalen is approximately 2 hours — that is how long the body takes to clear half of a dose. The oral methoxsalen (PUVA) label reports a single "drug half-life is approximately 2 hours" without separating a distribution and a terminal phase, so 2 hours is the elimination half-life as stated. Detectable methoxsalen blood levels persist up to about 12 hours post-dose. The drug is rapidly metabolized, with roughly 95% excreted as metabolites in the urine within 24 hours; the label does not name any active metabolite that outlasts the parent, so photosensitivity is driven by the parent drug plus UVA exposure. The label does not state how the half-life changes with older age, kidney impairment, or liver impairment. This is a pharmacokinetic half-life, not a drug-test detection window and not dosing guidance. Half-life is not the same as how long a drug test can detect the drug, and it varies with age, kidney and liver function.
Can you take methoxsalen 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 methoxsalen 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 methoxsalen sold under?
We track 3 methoxsalen-containing products in the U.S.: 8-Mop, Oxsoralen and Oxsoralen-Ultra. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does methoxsalen come in?
Across the brands we track, methoxsalen is currently marketed as capsule and topical, 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 methoxsalen?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled methoxsalen 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). Methoxsalen: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/methoxsalen
- MLA
- “Methoxsalen: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/methoxsalen.
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 methoxsalen on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.