Teriparatide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Teriparatide is a parathyroid hormone analog sold in the U.S. under 2 brand and generic names, for postmenopausal osteoporosis and hypoparathyroidism. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Drug class
- Parathyroid Hormone Analog
- Treats
- Postmenopausal Osteoporosis and Hypoparathyroidism
- Available as
- Injectable
- Sold as
- 2 products — Bonsity and Parathar
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
- What the pharmacy pays
- about $540 per ml — not your price
How teriparatide is dosed
From the FDA label for Bonsity (application NDA211939). Other teriparatide products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Recommended dosage is 20 mcg subcutaneously once a day ( 2.1 ) Consider supplemental calcium and Vitamin D based on individual patient needs ( 2.1 ) Administer as a subcutaneous injection into the thigh or abdominal region ( 2.2 ) Administer initially under circumstances in which the patient can sit or lie down if symptoms of orthostatic hypotension occur ( 2.2 ) Use of teriparatide for more than 2 years during a patient's lifetime should only be considered if a patient remains at or has returned to having a high risk for fracture ( 2.3 ) 2.1 Recommended Dosage The recommended dosage is 20 mcg given subcutaneously once a day. Instruct patients to take supplemental calcium and vitamin D if daily dietary intake is inadequate. 2.2 Administration Instructions Administer teriparatide injection as a subcutaneous injection into the thigh or abdominal region. Teriparatide injection is not approved for intravenous or intramuscular use. Teriparatide injection should be administered initially under circumstances in which the patient can sit or lie down if symptoms of orthostatic hypotension occur [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.4 )] . Parenteral drug products should be inspected visually for particulate matter and discoloration prior to administration (teriparatide injection is a clear and colorless liquid). Do not use if solid particles appear or if the solution is cloudy or colored.…
Teriparatide side effects
Most common adverse reactions (>10%) include: arthralgia, pain, and nausea ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Alvogen, Inc. at 1-866-770-3024 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch. 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience 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 rates in the clinical studies of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. Men with Primary or Hypogonadal Osteoporosis and Postmenopausal Women with Osteoporosis The safety of teriparatide in the treatment of osteoporosis in men and postmenopausal women was assessed in two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of 1382 patients (21% men, 79% women) aged 28 to 86 years (mean 67 years) [see Clinical Studies ( 14.1 , 14.2 )] . The median durations of the trials were 11 months for men and 19 months for women, with 691 patients exposed to teriparatide and 691 patients to placebo. All patients received 1000 mg of calcium plus at least 400 IU of vitamin D supplementation per day. The incidence of all-cause mortality was 1% in the teriparatide group and 1% in the placebo group. The incidence of serious adverse events was 16% in the teriparatide group and 19% in the placebo group. Early discontinuation due to adverse events occurred in 7% in the…
Who shouldn’t take teriparatide
Teriparatide injection is contraindicated in patients with hypersensitivity to teriparatide or to any of its excipients. Hypersensitivity reactions have included angioedema and anaphylaxis [see Adverse Reactions ( 6.2 )] . Patients with hypersensitivity to teriparatide or to any of its excipients ( 4 )
Teriparatide drug interactions
Digoxin: Transient hypercalcemia may predispose patients to digitalis toxicity ( 5.5 , 7.1 ) 7.1 Digoxin Sporadic case reports have suggested that hypercalcemia may predispose patients to digitalis toxicity. Teriparatide may transiently increase serum calcium. Consider the potential onset of signs and symptoms of digitalis toxicity when teriparatide injection is used in patients receiving digoxin [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.5 ), Clinical Pharmacology ( 12.3 )] .
Every teriparatide 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 | Generic | $540 | View → | |
| 2 | 70/100 | Prescription | Injectable | Generic | $540 | View → |
How long teriparatide keeps
The date on a sealed pack is not the only one: some teriparatide labels start a second clock once the product is opened or mixed, as short as 28 days.
Does teriparatide expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsWhat people report to the FDA about teriparatide
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 6,935 reports naming teriparatide, and the FDA flagged 71% 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:
- nausea518 reports
- fall508 reports
- dizziness499 reports
- back pain475 reports
- fatigue472 reports
- device malfunction443 reports
- arthralgia433 reports
- pain in extremity422 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean teriparatide 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
What is teriparatide?
Bonsity (Teriparatide) is a parathyroid hormone analog used to treat Postmenopausal Osteoporosis, Hypoparathyroidism.
What kind of drug is teriparatide?
The FDA classifies teriparatide as a parathyroid hormone analog. 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 teriparatide 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 teriparatide 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 teriparatide sold under?
We track 2 teriparatide-containing products in the U.S.: Bonsity and Parathar. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does teriparatide come in?
Across the brands we track, teriparatide 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 teriparatide?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled teriparatide 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). Teriparatide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/teriparatide
- MLA
- “Teriparatide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/teriparatide.
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 teriparatide on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.