Vorinostat: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Vorinostat is a medicine sold in the U.S. under one brand, for cutaneous t-cell lymphoma. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Treats
- Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma
- Available as
- Capsule
- Sold as
- Zolinza
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
How vorinostat is dosed
From the FDA label for Zolinza (application NDA021991). Other vorinostat products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
400 mg orally once daily with food. ( 2.1 ) If patient is intolerant to therapy, reduce the dose to 300 mg orally once daily with food. If necessary, reduce the dose further to 300 mg once daily with food for 5 consecutive days each week. ( 2.2 , 5 ) Reduce dose in patients with mild or moderate hepatic impairment. ( 2.2 ) 2.1 Dosing Information The recommended dose is 400 mg orally once daily with food. Treatment may be continued as long as there is no evidence of progressive disease or unacceptable toxicity. ZOLINZA capsules should not be opened or crushed [see How Supplied/Storage and Handling (16) ] . 2.2 Dose Modifications For Toxicity If a patient is intolerant to therapy, the dose may be reduced to 300 mg orally once daily with food. The dose may be further reduced to 300 mg once daily with food for 5 consecutive days each week, as necessary. Hepatic Impairment Reduce the starting dose to 300 mg orally once daily with food in patients with mild to moderate hepatic impairment (bilirubin 1 to 3 × ULN or AST greater than ULN). There is insufficient evidence to recommend a starting dose for patients with severe hepatic impairment (bilirubin greater than 3 × ULN) [see Use in Specific Populations (8.6) and Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ] .
Vorinostat side effects
The following serious adverse reactions have been associated with ZOLINZA in clinical trials and are discussed in greater detail in other sections of the label: Thromboembolism [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] Myelosuppression [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ] Gastrointestinal Toxicity [see Warnings and Precautions (5.3) ] Hyperglycemia [see Warnings and Precautions (5.4) ] Clinical Chemistry Abnormalities [see Warnings and Precautions (5.5) ] Severe thrombocytopenia when combined with other Histone Deacetylase (HDAC) Inhibitors [see Warnings and Precautions (5.6) ] The most common adverse reactions (incidence ≥20%) are diarrhea, fatigue, nausea, thrombocytopenia, anorexia and dysgeusia. ( 6 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC at 1-877-888-4231 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 ZOLINZA was evaluated in 107 CTCL patients in two single arm clinical studies in which 86 patients received 400 mg once daily. The data described below reflect exposure to ZOLINZA 400 mg once daily in the 86 patients for a median number…
Who shouldn’t take vorinostat
None. None ( 4 )
Vorinostat drug interactions
Coumarin-derivative anticoagulants: Prolongation of prothrombin time and International Normalized Ratio (INR) have been observed with concomitant use. Monitor INR frequently. ( 7.1 ) 7.1 Coumarin-Derivative Anticoagulants Prolongation of prothrombin time (PT) and International Normalized Ratio (INR) were observed in patients receiving ZOLINZA concomitantly with coumarin-derivative anticoagulants. Physicians should monitor PT and INR more frequently in patients concurrently administered ZOLINZA and coumarin derivatives. 7.2 Other HDAC Inhibitors Severe thrombocytopenia and gastrointestinal bleeding have been reported with concomitant use of ZOLINZA and other HDAC inhibitors (e.g., valproic acid). Monitor platelet count every 2 weeks for the first 2 months [see Warnings and Precautions (5.6) ].
Every vorinostat 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: Zolinza.
What vorinostat 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 568;100;mg | 100 mg | white | capsule | — |
Can you crush or split vorinostat?
At least one vorinostatproduct is labelled to be swallowed whole — crushing an extended-release tablet releases the whole day’s dose at once. Which applies depends on the form you were given.
What each vorinostat label says about crushing, splitting and chewingWhat people report to the FDA about vorinostat
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 1,840 reports naming vorinostat, and the FDA flagged 97% 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:
- febrile neutropenia273 reports
- thrombocytopenia170 reports
- nausea146 reports
- diarrhoea139 reports
- anaemia134 reports
- vomiting120 reports
- sepsis114 reports
- fatigue113 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean vorinostat 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 vorinostat?
Zolinza (Vorinostat) is a medication used to treat Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma.
Can you take vorinostat 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 vorinostat 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 vorinostat come in?
Across the brands we track, vorinostat is currently marketed as capsule, 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 vorinostat?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled vorinostat 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). Vorinostat: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/vorinostat
- MLA
- “Vorinostat: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/vorinostat.
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 vorinostat on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.