Ospemifene: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Ospemifene is a medicine sold in the U.S. under one brand, for atrophy, dyspareunia and menopause. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Treats
- Atrophy, Dyspareunia and Menopause
- Available as
- Tablet
- Sold as
- Osphena
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
- Boxed warning
- Boxed warning
How ospemifene is dosed
From the FDA label for Osphena (application NDA203505). Other ospemifene products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
OSPHENA is an estrogen agonist/antagonist which has agonistic effects on the endometrium [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ]. Use OSPHENA for the shortest duration consistent with treatment goals and risks for the individual woman. Reevaluate postmenopausal women periodically as clinically appropriate to determine if treatment is still necessary. One tablet taken orally once daily with food. ( 2.1 , 2.2 ) 2.1 Treatment of Moderate to Severe Dyspareunia, a Symptom of Vulvar and Vaginal Atrophy, Due to Menopause One 60 mg tablet taken orally with food once daily. 2.2 Treatment of Moderate to Severe Vaginal Dryness, a Symptom of Vulvar and Vaginal Atrophy, Due to Menopause One 60 mg tablet taken orally with food once daily.
Ospemifene side effects
The following serious adverse reactions are discussed elsewhere in the labeling: Cardiovascular Disorders [see Boxed Warning , Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] Malignant Neoplasms [see Boxed Warning , Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ] The most common adverse reactions (≥1 percent) with OSPHENA are: hot flush, vaginal discharge, muscle spasms, headache, hyperhidrosis, vaginal hemorrhage, night sweats. ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Duchesnay Inc. at 1-855-OSPHENA (1-855-677-4362) 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. The safety of OSPHENA has been assessed in ten phase 2/3 trials (N=2209) with doses ranging from 5 to 90 mg per day. The duration of treatment in these studies ranged from 6 weeks to 15 months. The majority of women (N=1683) had treatment exposure up to 12 weeks; 847 had up to 52 weeks (1 year) of exposure. The incidence rates of thromboembolic and hemorrhagic stroke were 1.13 per thousand women years (1 reported case of thromboembolic stroke) and 3.39 per thousand women years (3 reported cases of hemorrhagic stroke), respectively in OSPHENA…
Who shouldn’t take ospemifene
OSPHENA is contraindicated in women with any of the following conditions: Undiagnosed abnormal genital bleeding. Estrogen-dependent neoplasia. Active DVT, PE, or a history of these conditions. Active arterial thromboembolic disease (for example, stroke and MI), or a history of these conditions. Hypersensitivity (for example, angioedema, urticaria, rash, pruritus) to OSPHENA or any ingredients. OSPHENA is contraindicated in women who are or may become pregnant. OSPHENA may cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Ospemifene was embryo-fetal lethal with labor difficulties and increased pup deaths in rats at doses below clinical exposures, and embryo-fetal lethal in rabbits at 10 times the clinical exposure based on mg/m 2 . If this drug is used during pregnancy, or if a woman becomes pregnant while taking this drug, she should be apprised of the potential hazard to a fetus. Undiagnosed abnormal genital bleeding ( 4 ) Estrogen-dependent neoplasia ( 4 , 5.2 ) Active DVT, pulmonary embolism (PE), or a history of these conditions ( 4 , 5.1 ) Active arterial thromboembolic disease (for example, stroke and myocardial infarction [MI]), or a history of these conditions ( 4 , 5.1 ) Hypersensitivity (for example, angioedema, urticaria, rash, pruritus) to OSPHENA or any ingredients ( 4 ) Known or suspected pregnancy ( 4 , 8.1 )
Ospemifene drug interactions
OSPHENA is primarily metabolized by CYP3A4 and CYP2C9. CYP2C19 and other pathways contribute to the metabolism of ospemifene. Do not use estrogens or estrogen agonist/antagonist concomitantly with OSPHENA. ( 7.1 , 12.3 ) Do not use fluconazole concomitantly with OSPHENA. Fluconazole increases serum concentrations of OSPHENA. ( 7.2 , 12.3 ) Do not use rifampin concomitantly with OSPHENA. Rifampin decreases serum concentration of OSPHENA. ( 7.2 , 12.3 ) 7.1 Estrogens and Estrogen Agonist/Antagonist Do not use OSPHENA concomitantly with estrogens and estrogen agonists/antagonists. The safety of concomitant use of OSPHENA with estrogens and estrogen agonists/antagonists has not been studied. 7.2 Fluconazole Do not use OSPHENA concomitantly with fluconazole, a moderate CYP3A / strong CYP2C9 / moderate CYP2C19 inhibitor. Fluconazole increases the systemic exposure of ospemifene by 2.7-fold. Administration of fluconazole with ospemifene may increase the risk of OSPHENA-related adverse reactions [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ] . 7.3 Rifampin Rifampin, a strong CYP3A4 / moderate CYP2C9 / moderate CYP2C19 inducer, decreases the systemic exposure of ospemifene by 58%. Therefore, co-administration of OSPHENA with drugs such as rifampin which induce CYP3A4, CYP2C9 and/or CYP2C19 activity would be expected to decrease the systemic exposure of ospemifene, which may decrease the clinical effect [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ] . 7.4 Ketoconazole Ketoconazole, a strong CYP3A4 inhibitor, increases the systemic exposure of ospemifene by 1.4-fold. Administration of ketoconazole chronically with ospemifene may increase the risk of OSPHENA-related adverse reactions [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ] . 7.5 Warfarin Repeated administration of ospemifene had no effect on the pharmacokinetics of a single 10 mg dose of warfarin. No study was conducted with multiple doses of warfarin. The effect of ospemifene on clotting time such as the International Normalized Ratio (INR) or prothrombin time (PT) was not studied [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ] . 7.6 Highly Protein-Bound Drugs Ospemifene is more than 99% bound to serum proteins and might affect the protein binding of other drugs. Use of OSPHENA with other drug products that are highly protein-bound may lead to increased exposure of either that drug or ospemifene [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ] . 7.7 Multiple Enzyme Inhibition Co-administration of OSPHENA with a drug known to inhibit CYP3A4 and CYP2C9 isoenzymes may increase the risk of OSPHENA-related adverse reactions.
Every ospemifene 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: Osphena.
What ospemifene 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | 60 mg | white | oval | — |
What people report to the FDA about ospemifene
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 42 reports naming ospemifene, and the FDA flagged 43% 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:
- headache5 reports
- diarrhoea4 reports
- hot flush4 reports
- nausea4 reports
- drug hypersensitivity3 reports
- pain in extremity3 reports
- pollakiuria3 reports
- stevens-johnson syndrome3 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean ospemifene 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 ospemifene?
OSPHENA is an estrogen agonist/antagonist. OSPHENA is not a hormone. The chemical structure of ospemifene is shown in Figure 1.
Can you take ospemifene 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 ospemifene 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 ospemifene come in?
Across the brands we track, ospemifene is currently marketed as tablet, 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 ospemifene?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled ospemifene 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). Ospemifene: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/ospemifene
- MLA
- “Ospemifene: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/ospemifene.
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 ospemifene on DailyMed (NIH) ↗ — including its boxed warning in full.