Zidovudine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Zidovudine is a medicine sold in the U.S. under one brand, for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Treats (across its forms)
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Available as
- Capsule · Injectable · Solution
- Sold as
- Retrovir
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
- What the pharmacy pays
- about $9 for a 30-count supply — not your price
- Boxed warning
- Boxed warning
How zidovudine is dosed
From the FDA label for Retrovir (application NDA019655). Other zidovudine products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Treatment of HIV-1 infection: Adults: Recommended oral dosage is 300 mg twice a day with other antiretroviral agents. For patients who are unable to take the oral formulations, the recommended intravenous dose is 1 mg per kg infused over 1 hour every 4 hours. ( 2.1 ) Pediatric patients (aged 4 weeks to less than 18 years): Dosage should be calculated based on body weight not to exceed adult dose. ( 2.2 ) • Prevention of maternal-fetal HIV-1 transmission: Specific dosage instructions for mother and infant. ( 2.3 ) • Patients with severe anemia and/or neutropenia: Dosage interruption may be necessary. ( 2.4 ) • Renal impairment: Recommended oral dosage in hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis or in patients with creatinine clearance (CrCl) less than 15 mL per minute is 100 mg every 6 to 8 hours. Equivalent intravenous dosing is approximately 1 mg per kg every 6 to 8 hours. ( 2.5 ) 2.1 Adults – Treatment of HIV-1 Infection Oral Dosing The recommended oral dose of RETROVIR is 300 mg twice daily in combination with other antiretroviral agents. Intravenous (IV) Dosing The recommended intravenous dose is 1 mg per kg infused at a constant rate over 1 hour every 4 hours. Patients should receive RETROVIR injection only until oral therapy can be administered. • RETROVIR injection must be diluted prior to administration. The calculated dose should be removed from the 20-mL vial and added to…
Zidovudine side effects
The following adverse reactions are discussed in greater detail in other sections of the labeling: • Hematologic toxicity, including neutropenia and anemia [see Boxed Warning , Warnings and Precautions ( 5.1 )]. • Symptomatic myopathy [see Boxed Warning , Warnings and Precautions ( 5. 2)]. • Lactic acidosis and severe hepatomegaly with steatosis [see Boxed Warning , Warnings and Precautions ( 5. 3)]. • Hepatic decompensation in patients co-infected with HIV-1 and hepatitis C [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5. 4)]. • Most commonly reported adverse reactions (incidence greater than or equal to 15%) in adult HIV-1 clinical trials were headache, malaise, nausea, anorexia, and vomiting. ( 6.1 ) • Most commonly reported adverse reactions (incidence greater than or equal to 15%) in pediatric HIV-1 clinical trials were fever and cough. ( 6.1 ) • Most commonly reported adverse reactions in neonates (incidence greater than or equal to 15%) in the prevention of maternal-fetal transmission of HIV-1 clinical trial were anemia and neutropenia. ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact ViiV Healthcare at 1-877-844-8872 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 with rates in the…
Who shouldn’t take zidovudine
RETROVIR is contraindicated in patients who have had a potentially life-threatening hypersensitivity reaction (e.g., anaphylaxis, Stevens-Johnson syndrome) to any of the components of the formulations. Hypersensitivity to zidovudine or any of the components (e.g., anaphylaxis, Stevens-Johnson syndrome). ( 4 )
Zidovudine drug interactions
Avoid use with stavudine. ( 7.1 ) • Avoid use with doxorubicin. ( 7.2 ) • Bone marrow suppressive/cytotoxic agents: May increase the hematologic toxicity of zidovudine. ( 7.3 ) 7.1 Antiretroviral Agents Stavudine Concomitant use of zidovudine with stavudine should be avoided since an antagonistic relationship has been demonstrated in vitro. Nucleoside Analogues Affecting DNA Replication Some nucleoside analogues affecting DNA replication, such as ribavirin, antagonize the in vitro antiviral activity of RETROVIR against HIV-1; concomitant use of such drugs should be avoided. 7.2 Doxorubicin Concomitant use of zidovudine with doxorubicin should be avoided since an antagonistic relationship has been demonstrated in vitro. 7.3 Hematologic/Bone Marrow Suppressive/Cytotoxic Agents Coadministration of ganciclovir, interferon alfa, ribavirin, and other bone marrow suppressive or cytotoxic agents may increase the hematologic toxicity of zidovudine.
Every zidovudine 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: Retrovir.
What zidovudine 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1;H | 300 mg | white | round | — |
| Wellcome;Y9C;100 | 100 mg | white | capsule | — |
Combination products containing zidovudine
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 zidovudine keeps
The date on a sealed pack is not the only one: some zidovudine labels start a second clock once the product is opened or mixed, as short as 24 hours.
Does zidovudine expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsZidovudine and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for zidovudine: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadZidovudine has been well studied during breastfeeding. Milk levels are low and most breastfed infants do not have detectable blood levels. Some breastfed infants have developed anemia during maternal therapy. Achieving and maintaining viral suppression with antiretroviral therapy decreases breastfeeding transmission risk to less than 1%, but not zero. Individuals with HIV who are on antiretroviral therapy with a sustained undetectable viral load and who choose to breastfeed should be supported in this decision. If a viral load is not suppressed, banked pasteurized donor milk or formula is recommended. Extended postnatal prophylaxis of breastfed infants with zidovudine should continue until breastfeeding is stopped.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised December 15, 2025. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about zidovudine
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 13,293 reports naming zidovudine, 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:
- foetal exposure during pregnancy1,932 reports
- virologic failure989 reports
- drug resistance848 reports
- anaemia778 reports
- exposure during pregnancy762 reports
- drug exposure during pregnancy724 reports
- viral mutation identified710 reports
- pathogen resistance684 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean zidovudine 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 zidovudine?
RETROVIR is the brand name for zidovudine (formerly called azidothymidine [AZT]), a pyrimidine nucleoside analogue active against HIV-1.
Can you take zidovudine 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 zidovudine 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 zidovudine come in?
Across the brands we track, zidovudine is currently marketed as capsule, injectable and solution, 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 zidovudine?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled zidovudine 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). Zidovudine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/zidovudine
- MLA
- “Zidovudine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/zidovudine.
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 zidovudine on DailyMed (NIH) ↗ — including its boxed warning in full.