Does aprepitant expire?
The printed date covers the sealed pack. Once aprepitant is opened, mixed or diluted, its label sets a second and usually much shorter limit — quoted below, per product.
Shortest limit on any aprepitant label: 72 hours
“The dose must be used within 72 hours of preparation.”
That applies to the product it is printed on, not to every form of aprepitant — check which one you have against the list below.
What the labels say
How the label says to keep aprepitant
Storage is the other half of the question: the stability behind any date assumes these conditions, and a medicine kept outside them ages faster than the calendar says.
- “16 HOW SUPPLIED/STORAGE AND HANDLING Aprepitant capsules, USP, 40 mg, are hard gelatin capsules with white body and yellow cap with "40 mg" printed in black ink on the body.”
- “and Handling Capsules Store at 20 to 25°C (68 to 77°F) [see USP Controlled Room Temperature].”
- “16 HOW SUPPLIED/STORAGE AND HANDLING CINVANTI injectable emulsion is supplied as an opaque, off-white to amber emulsion in a single-dose glass vial containing 130 mg/18 mL (7.”
- “CINVANTI injectable emulsion vials must be refrigerated, store at 2°C-8°C (36°F-46°F).”
- “Conditions for CINVANTI in Acceptable Intravenous Diluents Diluted CINVANTI solution is stable at ambient room temperature for up to 6 hours in 0.”
- “16 HOW SUPPLIED/STORAGE AND HANDLING 80-mg capsules: White, opaque, hard gelatin capsule with "461" and "80 mg" printed radially in black ink on the body.”
- “and Handling Capsules Store at 20-25°C (68-77°F) [see USP Controlled Room Temperature].”
- “Store unopened pouch at 20-25°C (68-77°F); excursions permitted between 15-30°C (between 59-86°F).”
Frequently asked questions
Does aprepitant expire?
Two different clocks apply and only one of them is the printed date. The date on a sealed pack is the manufacturer's guarantee for the unopened product. Once it is opened, mixed or diluted, the label imposes its own limit — as tight as 72 hours on some aprepitant products, and that is the number quoted on this page.
Can I still use aprepitant after the date on the box?
This page cannot tell you that, and nor can any page. The FDA's own shelf-life programme found 88% of tested lots stayed within specification at least a year past expiry — and concluded in the same breath that lot-to-lot variation means this can only be confirmed by testing each lot. What you can check at home is the in-use limit above and whether the product has been stored as the label requires. Ask a pharmacist about a specific pack; they will also dispose of what you no longer need.
Why do different aprepitant products have different limits?
Because they are different formulations. A suspension that gets mixed with water, a pen that gets carried at room temperature, and a sealed tablet do not behave alike, so each manufacturer's label sets its own limit and each is shown here with the product it belongs to. We never merge them into one number for the molecule.
More on aprepitant
Quoted from FDA labels for reference, not medical advice, and not a suggestion to use anything past its limit. If you are unsure whether a pack is still good, a pharmacist can tell you and can dispose of it safely.