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← ACTIVESRECORD A-02FAMILY RETINOID — RECEPTOR-SELECTIVE PRODRUG

Tazarotene

Tazarotene

The largest retinoid effect size in this register, attached to the worst price and the only outright pregnancy contraindication in the class.

THE TRIALLED STRENGTH, IN THE RANGE WE HAVE SEEN0.045% ——— 0.1%
0.045%

The marker is the strength the trials were actually run at. The bar is the span this register has recorded, approved and compounded together. Anything below the marker is a dose nobody has tested; anything above it is an assumption about a dose–response curve nobody has drawn.

IDENTITY & RATINGSA
INCITazarotene
FAMILYRetinoid — receptor-selective prodrug
MOL. WEIGHT351.46 g/mol
REFERENCE CONC.0.045%
RANGE SEEN0.045 – 0.1%
STATUSPRESCRIPTION ONLY
ACTS ATEPIDERMIS
ONSET12 WK
STABILITYSTABLE IN A POLYMERIC EMULSION LOTION
TRIALS ON FILE1
IRRITATION INDEX7 / 10
STRATUM CORNEUM▸ EPIDERMISDERMIS

The shaded band is the depth this molecule is understood to reach. Anything below it is out of scope, whatever the label says.

01

Mechanism

EVIDENCE GRADE A

A prodrug hydrolysed in skin to tazarotenic acid, which binds RARβ and RARγ selectively. More potent at the receptor than tretinoin and correspondingly less forgiving.

HOUSE NOTES

  • Contraindicated in pregnancy, not merely cautioned. The label requires a negative pregnancy test within two weeks of starting and effective contraception throughout.
  • 2.4% of trial subjects discontinued because of local skin reactions, and 1.3% had reactions graded severe.
  • Its registration trials compared it with vehicle, never with tretinoin — so the question a prescriber actually faces has no answer in the dossier.
  • The legacy cream at 0.05% and 0.1% is the same molecule at up to twice the strength for roughly a tenth of the price, and reports irritation in 10 to 30% of acne subjects against the lotion's 4 to 5%. All of that difference is the vehicle.
  • The cream carries the only post-treatment measurement in this register: psoriasis clinical success twelve weeks after the last application, at 33% against 22% on vehicle.

MEASURED ENDPOINTS

EGSS success, acne — lotion+12.5%
12 WKREF-15
Total lesion reduction, acne — cream+20%
12 WKREF-26
Psoriasis success, 12 weeks after stopping+11%
24 WKREF-25

SUPPORTING RECORDS

  • REF-15A

    Multicentre randomised, vehicle-controlled; treatment difference 12.5% (95% CI 7.1–17.9)

    N=813 · 12 WK · DOUBLE-BLIND

  • REF-26A

    Randomised, vehicle-controlled, facial acne suitable for topical monotherapy

    N=436 · 12 WK · DOUBLE-BLIND

  • REF-25A

    Randomised, vehicle-controlled, with a twelve-week post-treatment observation period

    N=447 · 24 WK · DOUBLE-BLIND

02

Layering

CONFLICTS & PAIRINGS
DO NOT LAYER
  • Pregnancy — contraindicated
  • Other retinoids
  • Waxing and depilatories
PAIRS WITH
  • Moisturiser, applied first
  • Daily sunscreen
03

Reviewed in

2 REVIEWS
EVERY FIGURE HERE RESOLVES TO A RECORD IN THE EVIDENCE REGISTER. NOT MEDICAL ADVICE.
PREVIOUS — A-01TretinoinNEXT — A-03Trifarotene
THE DRAW · NO. 01

Win a year of
prescription skincare

One reader gets a 12 months CoreAge Rx derm plan — the compounded, physician-reviewed subscription we take apart in the register. Worth $780. Leave an address and you are entered.

PRIZE
12 MONTHS OF COREAGE RX
VALUE
$780 — $64.99/MO × 12
ENTRY
ONE EMAIL ADDRESS

VALUE IS THE PUBLISHED $64.99/MONTH SUBSCRIPTION PRICE OVER TWELVE MONTHS, AS RECORDED IN R-10. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. WE REVIEW COREAGE RX — WE DO NOT SELL IT.

DEPTH 000%
THE DRAW · ONE READER

Win a year of
prescription skincare

One reader gets a 12 months CoreAge Rx derm subscription — compounded, physician-reviewed, delivered. The plan we score in the register.

VALUE$780
TERM12 MONTHS$64.99/MO × 12

VALUE IS THE PUBLISHED $64.99/MONTH SUBSCRIPTION PRICE OVER TWELVE MONTHS, AS RECORDED IN R-10. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. WE REVIEW COREAGE RX — WE DO NOT SELL IT.