Nepafenac: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Nepafenac is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 2 brand and generic names, for eye pain. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Treats
- Eye Pain
- Available as
- Drops
- Sold as
- 2 products — Ilevro and Nevanac
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
How nepafenac is dosed
From the FDA label for Ilevro (application NDA203491). Other nepafenac products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
One drop of ILEVRO ® 0.3% should be applied to the affected eye one-time-daily beginning 1 day prior to cataract surgery, continued on the day of surgery and through the first 2 weeks of the postoperative period. An additional drop should be administered 30 to 120 minutes prior to surgery. ( 2 ) 2.1 Recommended Dosing One drop of ILEVRO ® 0.3% should be applied to the affected eye one time daily beginning 1 day prior to cataract surgery, continued on the day of surgery and through the first 2 weeks of the postoperative period. An additional drop should be administered 30 to 120 minutes prior to surgery. 2.2 Use with Other Topical Ophthalmic Medications ILEVRO ® 0.3% may be administered in conjunction with other topical ophthalmic medications such as beta-blockers, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, alpha-agonists, cycloplegics, and mydriatics. If more than one topical ophthalmic medication is being used, the medicines must be administered at least 5 minutes apart.
Nepafenac side effects
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 the rates in the clinical studies of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. Most common adverse reactions (5% to 10%) are capsular opacity, decreased visual acuity, foreign body sensation, increased intraocular pressure, and sticky sensation. ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Harrow Eye, LLC at 1-833-4HARROW or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch . 6.1 Serious and Otherwise Important Adverse Reactions The following adverse reactions are discussed in greater detail in other sections of labeling. Increased Bleeding Time [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] Delayed Healing [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ] Corneal Effects [see Warnings and Precautions (5.3) ] 6.2 Ocular Adverse Reactions The most frequently reported ocular adverse reactions following cataract surgery were capsular opacity, decreased visual acuity, foreign body sensation, increased intraocular pressure (IOP), and sticky sensation. These reactions occurred in approximately 5% to 10% of patients. Other ocular adverse reactions occurring at an incidence of approximately 1% to 5% included conjunctival edema, corneal edema, dry eye, lid margin crusting, ocular discomfort, ocular hyperemia,…
Who shouldn’t take nepafenac
ILEVRO ® 0.3% is contraindicated in patients with previously demonstrated hypersensitivity to any of the ingredients in the formula or to other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Hypersensitivity to any of the ingredients in the formula or to other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). ( 4 )
Every nepafenac 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 | Drops | No data | — | View → | |
| 2 | 70/100 | Prescription | Drops | No data | — | View → |
Nepafenac and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for nepafenac: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadNo information is available on the clinical use of nepafenac during breastfeeding. Maternal use of nepafenac eye drops would not be expected to cause any adverse effects in breastfed infants. To substantially diminish the amount of drug that reaches the breastmilk after using eye drops, place pressure over the tear duct by the corner of the eye for 1 minute or more, then remove the excess solution with an absorbent tissue.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised September 15, 2024. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about nepafenac
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 788 reports naming nepafenac, and the FDA flagged 44% 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:
- eye pain187 reports
- eye irritation86 reports
- vision blurred50 reports
- ocular hyperaemia42 reports
- photophobia41 reports
- visual impairment37 reports
- headache35 reports
- lacrimation increased34 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean nepafenac 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 nepafenac?
Ilevro (Nepafenac) is a medication used to treat Eye Pain.
Can you take nepafenac 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 nepafenac 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 nepafenac sold under?
We track 2 nepafenac-containing products in the U.S.: Ilevro and Nevanac. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does nepafenac come in?
Across the brands we track, nepafenac is currently marketed as drops, 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 nepafenac?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled nepafenac 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). Nepafenac: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/nepafenac
- MLA
- “Nepafenac: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/nepafenac.
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 nepafenac on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.