# A-02 — Tazarotene

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

- **Canonical:** https://www.30plusskin.care/actives/tazarotene
- **Site:** 30+/SKIN — Skincare, published as a spec sheet.
- **Issue:** ISSUE NO. 13 / REV. 2026.10
- **Standing terms:** INDEPENDENT · AFFILIATE-FUNDED · NOT MEDICAL ADVICE

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## Datasheet

- **INN / INCI:** Tazarotene
- **Family:** Retinoid — receptor-selective prodrug
- **Molecular weight:** 351.46 g/mol
- **Layer reached:** EPIDERMIS
- **Prescription only:** yes
- **Evidence grade:** A
- **Controlled trials on file:** 1
- **Strength range recorded:** 0.045%–0.1%
- **Representative reference concentration:** 0.045%
- **Irritation (0–10):** 7
- **Onset:** 12 WK
- **Stability:** STABLE IN A POLYMERIC EMULSION LOTION

## Mechanism

The concentration marker is not a recommended dose or a claim that other strengths are untested. Compare the vehicle, indication and trial population.

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.

## Measured endpoints

| Endpoint | Effect vs comparator | Window | Record |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| EGSS success, acne — lotion | +12.5% | 12 WK | REF-15 — Arazlo — trial 1 (NCT03168321), acne vulgaris (Multicentre randomised, vehicle-controlled; treatment difference 12.5% (95% CI 7.1–17.9), n=813, grade A) |
| Total lesion reduction, acne — cream | +20% | 12 WK | REF-26 — Tazorac 0.1% — acne trial 1, median lesion reduction (Randomised, vehicle-controlled, facial acne suitable for topical monotherapy, n=436, grade A) |
| Psoriasis success, 12 weeks after stopping | +11% | 24 WK | REF-25 — Tazorac 0.05% — psoriasis trial 1, twelve weeks after stopping (Randomised, vehicle-controlled, with a twelve-week post-treatment observation period, n=447, grade A) |

## Layering

- **Do not layer with:** Pregnancy — contraindicated, Other retinoids, Waxing and depilatories
- **Pairs with:** Moisturiser, applied first, Daily sunscreen

## 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.

## Products in the register containing it

| No. | Product | Stance | Score | Document |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| R-37 | Bausch Health Arazlo | CONDITIONAL | 77/100 | /reviews/arazlo-tazarotene-lotion-review |
| R-51 | Almirall Tazorac | CONDITIONAL | 69/100 | /reviews/tazorac-tazarotene-cream-review |

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## Elsewhere in the register

- [Review register](/reviews)
- [Active monographs](/actives)
- [Brand register](/brands)
- [Evidence register](/evidence)
- [The ledger](/ledger)
- [How we test](/how-we-test)
- [Agent guide](/llms.txt)
- [Sitemap](/sitemap.xml)

_SOURCE-BASED ASSESSMENTS. PUBLISHER PREFERENCES ARE IDENTIFIED SEPARATELY._