Protamine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Protamine is a medicine sold in the U.S. under one brand. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Injectable
- Sold as
- Protamine Sulfate
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
Every protamine 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: Protamine Sulfate.
Combination products containing protamine
A combination is a different drug — different dosing, different warnings. It is listed here so you can find it, not so you can substitute it.
How long protamine keeps
No protamine 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 protamine expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsWhat people report to the FDA about protamine
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 1,988 reports naming protamine, and the FDA flagged 94% 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:
- renal failure1,007 reports
- injury970 reports
- anxiety901 reports
- fear836 reports
- renal injury728 reports
- emotional distress707 reports
- anhedonia624 reports
- renal impairment591 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean protamine 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 26, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
Can you take protamine 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 protamine 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 protamine come in?
Across the brands we track, protamine 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 protamine?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic protamine product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Protamine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/protamine
- MLA
- “Protamine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/protamine.
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 protamine on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.