Reported Reactions

Drugs › Anthracycline topoisomerase inhibitor

Generic name

Daunorubicin hydrochloride: adverse event reports filed with FDA

3,431 reports list it as a suspect or interacting product, 2004–2026. Class: Anthracycline topoisomerase inhibitor. Also reported as Daunorubicin Hcl, Daunorubicin Hydrochloride For Injection.

3,431
reports as suspect product
0% of all reports · about 153 a year
118
reports, 12 months to June 2026
155 in the 12 months before
96.2%
marked serious by the reporter
97% across the class
27.7%
record death among outcomes, as reported
951 reports · not verified by FDA

Between January 2004 and June 2026, 3,431 adverse event reports received by FDA list daunorubicin hydrochloride, a generic name as a suspect or interacting product. Reports that mention it only as a concomitant medication (583) are left out of every figure here.

In the 12 months to June 2026, 118 reports listed it, down 24% from 155 in the 12 months before. FDA releases FAERS data quarterly, so the newest months are incomplete and grow in later releases. Over its reporting history that is about 153 reports a year and 0% of the 20,646,523 reports in the database, and 3.1% of the reports for the anthracycline topoisomerase inhibitor class. How many people take it is not in the data, so a count is not a rate of occurrence.

The reactions recorded most often are febrile neutropenia (10.2%), pyrexia (8.2%) and sepsis (6.3%). A report can list several reactions, so shares add to more than 100%; 847 different terms appear across these reports. Febrile neutropenia is recorded in 10.2% of these reports, about the same share as in the median anthracycline topoisomerase inhibitor drug (10.4%).

96.2% of the reports are marked serious by the reporter (97% across the class); 27.7% record death among the outcomes and 48.5% record hospitalisation, as reported. 33.2% of the reports came from physicians, and the largest patient age group is 2 to 11 (14.4%). FDA states that "a causal relationship cannot be established between product and reactions listed in a report" and that for any given report "there is no certainty that a suspected drug caused the event."

Reports by month, five years

02652Jul 2021: 7Aug 2021: 9Sep 2021: 13Oct 2021: 22Nov 2021: 7Dec 2021: 142022Jan 2022: 14Feb 2022: 52Mar 2022: 18Apr 2022: 8May 2022: 20Jun 2022: 11Jul 2022: 5Aug 2022: 9Sep 2022: 11Oct 2022: 8Nov 2022: 12Dec 2022: 72023Jan 2023: 12Feb 2023: 20Mar 2023: 24Apr 2023: 16May 2023: 11Jun 2023: 13Jul 2023: 23Aug 2023: 14Sep 2023: 24Oct 2023: 16Nov 2023: 16Dec 2023: 132024Jan 2024: 20Feb 2024: 10Mar 2024: 16Apr 2024: 10May 2024: 14Jun 2024: 12Jul 2024: 11Aug 2024: 21Sep 2024: 36Oct 2024: 12Nov 2024: 13Dec 2024: 92025Jan 2025: 9Feb 2025: 9Mar 2025: 7Apr 2025: 9May 2025: 6Jun 2025: 13Jul 2025: 13Aug 2025: 10Sep 2025: 3Oct 2025: 7Nov 2025: 4Dec 2025: 62026Jan 2026: 7Feb 2026: 7Mar 2026: 9Apr 2026: 9May 2026: 25Jun 2026: 18

Reports by the month FDA received them. FDA releases FAERS data quarterly, so the newest months are incomplete and grow in later releases.

By year received

01773542004: 6020042005: 2042006: 1272007: 24120072008: 1612009: 2622010: 28620102011: 2322012: 3542013: 5420132014: 212015: 382016: 3520162017: 542018: 1372019: 12920192020: 1312021: 1732022: 17520222023: 2022024: 1842025: 9620252026: 75

2026 covers reports received through June 2026 only.

Reactions recorded in the reports

share of Daunorubicin hydrochloride reports recording the termmedian drug in anthracycline topoisomerase inhibitor

  1. Febrile neutropeniafever with low white blood cells10.2%349
  2. Pyrexiafever8.2%280
  3. Sepsisa severe body-wide response to infection6.3%216
  4. Neutropenialow neutrophils, a type of white blood cell6.1%209
  5. Hypotensionlow blood pressure5.8%198
  6. Pneumonialung infection5.3%181
  7. Bacterial infectiona bacterial infection5.2%178
  8. Pancytopenialow counts of all blood cells4.2%143
  9. Infectionan infection, type not specified4.1%139
  10. Secondary immunodeficiency3.8%130
  11. Fungal infectiona fungal infection3.5%120
  12. Platelet count decreasedlow platelet count3.5%119
  13. Septic shockshock arising from infection3.3%114
  14. Clostridium difficile colitisa bowel infection with C. difficile3.2%110
  15. Respiratory failurethe lungs could not supply enough oxygen3.2%109
  16. Thrombocytopenialow platelets3%103
  17. Dyspnoeashortness of breath2.9%99
  18. Diarrhoealoose or frequent stools2.9%98
  19. White blood cell count decreasedlow white cell count2.7%94
  20. Haemoglobin decreasedlow haemoglobin2.7%91
  21. Viral infectiona viral infection2.6%88
  22. Hypoxialow oxygen2.5%87
  23. Nauseafeeling sick2.5%86
  24. Off label useused for a purpose or in a way not on the label2.5%86
  25. Vomitingbeing sick2.4%84

Top 30 of 847 MedDRA preferred terms recorded across these reports, with a plain-language gloss where one is available. One report can record several terms. The hollow bar is the median share across the 7 drugs in the anthracycline topoisomerase inhibitor class; it describes the reports, not the patients. FDA states that adverse event reports "represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product", that "common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product", and that the data "by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic."

Outcomes recorded

Death27.7%951
Life-threatening11.3%386
Hospitalisation (initial or prolonged)48.5%1,663
Disability1.4%48
Congenital anomaly0.3%9
Other serious51.5%1,768
Not serious3.8%132

Outcome flags as the reporter set them; a report can carry several, and "other serious" is FDA's own category for serious reports outside the named outcomes. Grey bar: all 109,832 reports in the class. FDA has not verified any outcome and states that the reports "cannot be used to estimate the incidence of these events."

Patients and reporters

Patient age

Under 24.5%153
2 to 1114.4%495
12 to 176.7%230
18 to 4414.4%493
45 to 6413.6%468
65 to 746.2%212
75 and over0.9%31
Age not given39.3%1,349

Patient sex

Female39.4%1,352
Male45.4%1,557
Not given15.2%522

Who reported

Physician33.2%1,138
Pharmacist2.8%97
Other health professional32.1%1,103
Lawyer0%0
Consumer or non-health professional6.9%238
Not given24.9%855

Age and sex as stated in the report; the reporter's qualification is the primary source recorded by FDA. 33.2% of reports give the United States as the country of the event or reporter.

Reason for use recorded

Indication as recorded (MedDRA)ReportsShare
Acute myeloid leukaemia88725.9%
Acute lymphocytic leukaemia86025.1%
Chemotherapy511.5%
B precursor type acute leukaemia481.4%
Acute leukaemia411.2%
B-cell type acute leukaemia371.1%

The indication field is filled in by the reporter and is often blank; shares are of all 3,431 reports.

Drugs most often listed in the same reports

Drug (any role in the report)ReportsShare of Daunorubicin hydrochloride reports
Cytarabine2,46271.8%
Methotrexate1,04730.5%
Vincristine sulfate96728.2%
Cyclophosphamide90426.3%
Etoposide79223.1%
Vincristine57116.6%
Prednisone57016.6%
Dexamethasone54515.9%
Mercaptopurine51515%
Asparaginase34710.1%

Other products listed in reports where Daunorubicin hydrochloride is a suspect product, whatever their own role. Co-listing means the two were recorded together; it says nothing about either product's part in the event. Only the 2,500 most-reported names are counted here.

In context

MeasureDaunorubicin hydrochlorideAnthracycline topoisomerase inhibitorAll reports
Reports as suspect product3,431109,83220,646,523
Share of that pool—3.1%0%
Reports, latest 12 months118—1,332,454
Marked serious96.2%97%57.4%
Death recorded among outcomes, per 1,000 reports27719991
Hospitalisation recorded, per 1,000 reports485362213
Consumer-filed share6.9%5.7%45.8%
Top term, share of reportsFebrile neutropenia 10.2%median 10.4%0.3%

Shares are of reports, not of patients treated. The number of people taking a product is not in the data, so none of these figures is a rate, and differences between columns reflect who takes a product, who reports and how long it has been sold. FDA states that adverse event reports "represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product", that "common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product", and that the data "by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic."

Other drugs in the anthracycline topoisomerase inhibitor class

DrugName typeReportsLatest 12 monthsMarked serious
Doxorubicingeneric54,4014,87997.9%
Doxorubicin hydrochloridegeneric35,9132,17296.9%
Epirubicin hydrochloridegeneric6,41159499.3%
Doxilbrand4,9212889.5%
Idarubicin hydrochloridegeneric2,45611298.1%
Vyxeosbrand2,29956187.4%

Ordered by report count for navigation only. FDA states that adverse event reports "represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product", that "common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product", and that the data "by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic." A brand and its generic are separate rows because reporters name them separately.

Questions about Daunorubicin hydrochloride reports

How many adverse event reports has FDA received for Daunorubicin hydrochloride?

3,431 reports list Daunorubicin hydrochloride as a suspect or interacting product in the openFDA FAERS release of 28 Sep 2026, covering reports received through June 2026. 118 of them arrived in the latest 12 months. Another 583 list it only as a concomitant medication.

What reactions are recorded in Daunorubicin hydrochloride reports?

febrile neutropenia (10.2%), pyrexia (8.2%), sepsis (6.3%), neutropenia (6.1%) and hypotension (5.8%). These are MedDRA preferred terms coded from what the reporter described; a report can list several, and a term's presence is not a finding that Daunorubicin hydrochloride was responsible.

How serious are the reports?

96.2% are marked serious by the reporter. Among the outcomes recorded, 27.7% of reports include death and 48.5% include hospitalisation. FDA has not verified these outcomes and states that the reports "cannot be used to estimate the incidence" of the events.

Who files these reports?

physician (33.2%), other health professional (32.1%) and not given (24.9%). Most reports reach FDA through the manufacturer, which must forward reports it receives.

Are reports for Daunorubicin hydrochloride rising?

118 reports in the 12 months to June 2026, down 24% from 155 in the 12 months before. FDA releases FAERS data quarterly, so the newest months are incomplete and grow in later releases. Counts also move with how many people take a product, its time on the market and publicity.

Do these reports show that Daunorubicin hydrochloride was responsible for these reactions?

No. FDA states that "a causal relationship cannot be established between product and reactions listed in a report" and that for any given report "there is no certainty that a suspected drug caused the event." The reaction may relate to the condition being treated, to other medicines, or to something else.

Is this a list of the side effects of Daunorubicin hydrochloride?

No. It is a count of what was reported to FDA. The adverse reactions observed in clinical studies are printed on the FDA-approved label, which a pharmacist or clinician can go through with you.

How do I report an adverse event?

Consumers and health professionals can report to FDA through MedWatch (Form FDA 3500 online, or 1-800-FDA-1088), or to the manufacturer, which must pass reports on. See the guide on how to report.

Where this comes from. Counts are built from the openFDA Drug Adverse Event (FAERS) bulk export released 28 Sep 2026, which holds reports FDA received through 30 Jun 2026. Drug names are as reported, resolved to the brand or generic name on the FDA label where openFDA's harmonisation matched them; classes are the pharmacologic class (EPC) from the label and the National Drug Code Directory of 17 Sep 2026. A report counts here when it lists Daunorubicin hydrochloride as a suspect or interacting product; reports listing it only as a concomitant medication (583) are excluded. No report narrative, lot number, patient detail or reporter identity is published. See the methodology and sources; FDA's record is authoritative, and corrections are handled within five working days.

Drug data (FAERS) through 30 Jun 2026; device data (MAUDE) through 31 Aug 2026. Not medical advice.