Reported Reactions

Drugs › Alkylating drug

Brand name · Lurbinectedin

Zepzelca: adverse event reports filed with FDA

602 reports list it as a suspect or interacting product, 2020–2026. Class: Alkylating drug.

602
reports as suspect product
0% of all reports · about 100 a year
57
reports, 12 months to June 2026
85 in the 12 months before
72.1%
marked serious by the reporter
93.5% across the class
21.4%
record death among outcomes, as reported
129 reports · not verified by FDA

Between July 2020 and June 2026, 602 adverse event reports received by FDA list the brand name Zepzelca (lurbinectedin) as a suspect or interacting product. Reports that mention it only as a concomitant medication (4) are left out of every figure here.

In the 12 months to June 2026, 57 reports listed it, down 33% from 85 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 100 reports a year and 0% of the 20,646,523 reports in the database, and 0.2% of the reports for the alkylating drug 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 disease progression (11%), death (10.1%) and off label use (8.8%). A report can list several reactions, so shares add to more than 100%; 93 different terms appear across these reports. Disease progression is recorded in 11% of these reports, a larger share than in the median alkylating drug drug (4.3%).

72.1% of the reports are marked serious by the reporter (93.5% across the class); 21.4% record death among the outcomes and 22.9% record hospitalisation, as reported. 36.4% of the reports came from physicians, and the largest patient age group is 45 to 64 (15.9%). 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

02549Jul 2021: 4Aug 2021: 25Sep 2021: 5Oct 2021: 1Nov 2021: 2Dec 2021: 02022Jan 2022: 22Feb 2022: 26Mar 2022: 9Apr 2022: 2May 2022: 5Jun 2022: 1Jul 2022: 25Aug 2022: 5Sep 2022: 6Oct 2022: 2Nov 2022: 4Dec 2022: 492023Jan 2023: 8Feb 2023: 3Mar 2023: 5Apr 2023: 8May 2023: 2Jun 2023: 28Jul 2023: 2Aug 2023: 6Sep 2023: 2Oct 2023: 4Nov 2023: 6Dec 2023: 312024Jan 2024: 3Feb 2024: 4Mar 2024: 3Apr 2024: 6May 2024: 10Jun 2024: 37Jul 2024: 2Aug 2024: 4Sep 2024: 6Oct 2024: 6Nov 2024: 2Dec 2024: 42025Jan 2025: 43Feb 2025: 0Mar 2025: 4Apr 2025: 7May 2025: 4Jun 2025: 3Jul 2025: 3Aug 2025: 2Sep 2025: 3Oct 2025: 2Nov 2025: 4Dec 2025: 42026Jan 2026: 4Feb 2026: 6Mar 2026: 4Apr 2026: 7May 2026: 5Jun 2026: 13

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

0781562020: 4420202021: 9220212022: 15620222023: 10520232024: 8720242025: 7920252026: 392026

2026 covers reports received through June 2026 only.

Reactions recorded in the reports

share of Zepzelca reports recording the termmedian drug in alkylating drug

  1. Disease progressionthe disease advanced11%66
  2. Deaththe patient died; cause not stated by this term10.1%61
  3. Off label useused for a purpose or in a way not on the label8.8%53
  4. Nauseafeeling sick7%42
  5. Neutropenialow neutrophils, a type of white blood cell5.8%35
  6. Fatiguetiredness5.6%34
  7. Injection site reactiona reaction where the injection was given5%30
  8. Thrombocytopenialow platelets4.7%28
  9. Vomitingbeing sick4.2%25
  10. Anaemialow red blood cells4%24
  11. Astheniaweakness or lack of energy3.5%21
  12. Extravasation3.3%20
  13. Febrile neutropeniafever with low white blood cells1.8%11
  14. Pneumonialung infection1.8%11
  15. Acute kidney injurysudden loss of kidney function1.5%9
  16. Pancytopenialow counts of all blood cells1.5%9
  17. Diarrhoealoose or frequent stools1.3%8
  18. Dyspnoeashortness of breath1.3%8
  19. Abdominal painstomach or belly pain1.2%7
  20. Decreased appetitereduced appetite1.2%7
  21. Platelet count decreasedlow platelet count1.2%7
  22. Drug ineffectivethe medicine did not work as expected1%6
  23. General physical health deteriorationgeneral decline in health1%6

Top 30 of 93 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 23 drugs in the alkylating drug 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

Death21.4%129
Life-threatening1.8%11
Hospitalisation (initial or prolonged)22.9%138
Disability1%6
Congenital anomaly0%0
Other serious63%379
Not serious27.9%168

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 253,205 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 20%0
2 to 110%0
12 to 170.2%1
18 to 442.3%14
45 to 6415.9%96
65 to 7413.6%82
75 and over5.8%35
Age not given62.1%374

Patient sex

Female30.2%182
Male37.4%225
Not given32.4%195

Who reported

Physician36.4%219
Pharmacist15.3%92
Other health professional28.2%170
Lawyer0%0
Consumer or non-health professional19.8%119
Not given0.3%2

Age and sex as stated in the report; the reporter's qualification is the primary source recorded by FDA. 45% of reports give the United States as the country of the event or reporter.

Reason for use recorded

Indication as recorded (MedDRA)ReportsShare
Small cell lung cancer18731.1%
Small cell lung cancer metastatic8013.3%
Lung neoplasm malignant294.8%
Small cell lung cancer extensive stage254.2%
Prostate cancer61%
Ovarian cancer50.8%

The indication field is filled in by the reporter and is often blank; shares are of all 602 reports.

Drugs most often listed in the same reports

Drug (any role in the report)ReportsShare of Zepzelca reports
Pantoprazole406.6%
Levothyroxine sodium315.1%
Metoprolol294.8%
Citalopram284.7%
Dexamethasone284.7%
Clonazepam274.5%
Sodium chloride213.5%
Ondansetron203.3%
Atezolizumab172.8%
Acetaminophen111.8%

Other products listed in reports where Zepzelca 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

MeasureZepzelcaAlkylating drugAll reports
Reports as suspect product602253,20520,646,523
Share of that pool—0.2%0%
Reports, latest 12 months57—1,332,454
Marked serious72.1%93.5%57.4%
Death recorded among outcomes, per 1,000 reports21420891
Hospitalisation recorded, per 1,000 reports229333213
Consumer-filed share19.8%6.3%45.8%
Top term, share of reportsDisease progression 11%median 4.3%0.6%

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 alkylating drug class

DrugName typeReportsLatest 12 monthsMarked serious
Cyclophosphamidegeneric141,09912,36097.8%
Ifosfamidegeneric18,6581,32598.2%
Melphalangeneric17,19095698.5%
Temozolomidegeneric15,3241,05582.3%
Busulfangeneric11,8251,09594.9%
Thiotepageneric7,8531,03598.8%
Bendamustine hydrochloridegeneric6,94125396%
Dacarbazinegeneric6,43151196.3%
Temodarbrand4,6522456.1%
Matulanebrand3,84528415.9%
Carmustinegeneric3,37818099%
Treandabrand3,330366.5%
Chlorambucilgeneric2,4867598.5%
Valchlorbrand2,1141628.4%
Mitomycingeneric2,04111792.4%

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 Zepzelca reports

How many adverse event reports has FDA received for Zepzelca?

602 reports list Zepzelca as a suspect or interacting product in the openFDA FAERS release of 28 Sep 2026, covering reports received through June 2026. 57 of them arrived in the latest 12 months. Another 4 list it only as a concomitant medication.

What reactions are recorded in Zepzelca reports?

disease progression (11%), death (10.1%), off label use (8.8%), nausea (7%) and neutropenia (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 Zepzelca was responsible.

How serious are the reports?

72.1% are marked serious by the reporter. Among the outcomes recorded, 21.4% of reports include death and 22.9% 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 (36.4%), other health professional (28.2%) and consumer or non-health professional (19.8%). Most reports reach FDA through the manufacturer, which must forward reports it receives.

Are reports for Zepzelca rising?

57 reports in the 12 months to June 2026, down 33% from 85 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 Zepzelca 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 Zepzelca?

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 Zepzelca as a suspect or interacting product; reports listing it only as a concomitant medication (4) 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.