Cenobamate and Phenobarbital Interaction

Drug interaction information between Cenobamate and Phenobarbital.

Cenobamate and Phenobarbital have a documented moderate interaction in FDA labeling.

FDA drug labeling documents a moderate-severity interaction between Cenobamate and Phenobarbital. This page displays the available source-record category and label text. The category is not an individual risk estimate or medication-combination direction.

Drug A

Cenobamate

Anticonvulsant

Drug B

Phenobarbital

Anticonvulsant (Barbiturate)

How They Interact

Cenobamate causes the levels of phenobarbital in your blood to go up. This makes it more likely that you will have a bad reaction to the phenobarbital.

FDA Label Information

( 7.1 ) Phenobarbital and Clobazam: Reduce dosage as needed when used concomitantly with XCOPRI. phenobarbital ↑ plasma concentrations Because of a potential for an increase in the risk of adverse reactions from these drugs, consider a reduction in dosage of phenobarbital or clobazam, as clinically appropriate, when used concomitantly with XCOPRI.

Frequently Asked Questions

What SPL severity band is on file for Cenobamate + Phenobarbital?

Compiled FDA labeling labels this pair moderate. That is a source-record field, not an individual medication-combination decision.

Which drug in this pair has the larger labeled-interaction portfolio?

Phenobarbital has 59 labeled pairs on file vs Cenobamate's 5. In the moderate band specifically: Cenobamate has 2 (also Clobazam); Phenobarbital has 13 (also Canagliflozin, Clarithromycin, Dapsone Topical, Dolutegravir/Lamivudine).

What mechanism field is on file for Cenobamate and Phenobarbital?

Cenobamate causes the levels of phenobarbital in your blood to go up. This makes it more likely that you will have a bad reaction to the phenobarbital.

Phenobarbital carries more major-labeled pairs than Cenobamate

SPL source-record counts only. This page's band is moderate · classes on file: Cenobamate (Anticonvulsant); Phenobarbital (Anticonvulsant (Barbiturate)).

Phenobarbital has 3 major-labeled pairs vs Cenobamate's 0. This page itself is in the moderate band, not the major band.

Cenobamate

0 major · 2 moderate · 3 minor · 5 total

  • Other moderate peers for Cenobamate
  • Clobazam
Phenobarbital

3 major · 13 moderate · 43 minor · 59 total

Sources: FDA Drug Labels (SPL) via openFDA (2026). This is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. This registry does not provide individual medication-combination directions.