Cyclosporine and Pitavastatin Interaction
Drug interaction information between Cyclosporine and Pitavastatin.
Cyclosporine and Pitavastatin have a documented major interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a major-severity interaction between Cyclosporine and Pitavastatin. Major interactions are generally avoided, moderate ones may need monitoring or a dose adjustment, and minor ones are usually low-risk. This page shows the documented mechanism and guidance. Label-documented interactions are not a complete safety review, so always confirm your own medications with a pharmacist or doctor. Educational information, not medical advice.
How They Interact
Cyclosporine stops the body from clearing pitavastatin, causing the medicine to build up to unsafe levels in the blood. This significantly increases the risk of serious muscle damage and kidney problems.
What To Do
Do not take these two medications together. This combination is contraindicated because it is considered too dangerous.
FDA Label Information
Drug Interactions that Increase the Risk of Myopathy and Rhabdomyolysis with pitavastatin tablets Cyclosporine Clinical Impact: Cyclosporine significantly increases pitavastatin exposure and increases the risk of myopathy and rhabdomyolysis. Intervention: Concomitant use of cyclosporine with pitavastatin tablets is contraindicated [see Contraindications ( 4 )].
Cyclosporine Also Interacts With
- Clarithromycin major
- Ezetimibe major
- Ezetimibe/Simvastatin major
- Simvastatin major
- Aliskiren moderate
Pitavastatin Also Interacts With
- Erythromycin major
- Rifampin major
- Colchicine moderate
- Gemfibrozil moderate
- Niacin moderate
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Cyclosporine and Pitavastatin together?
This is a major interaction. Do not take these two medications together. This combination is contraindicated because it is considered too dangerous.
How serious is the interaction between Cyclosporine and Pitavastatin?
This interaction is classified as "major" severity by the FDA. Major interactions may be life-threatening or cause serious side effects.
Why do Cyclosporine and Pitavastatin interact?
Cyclosporine stops the body from clearing pitavastatin, causing the medicine to build up to unsafe levels in the blood. This significantly increases the risk of serious muscle damage and kidney problems.
Understanding the Cyclosporine and Pitavastatin Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a major-severity interaction. Cyclosporine belongs to the Calcineurin Inhibitor (Immunosuppressant) class and Pitavastatin belongs to the HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitor (Statin) class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: Cyclosporine stops the body from clearing pitavastatin, causing the medicine to build up to unsafe levels in the blood. Severity tiers matter: major flags generally advise avoidance, moderate flags often require monitoring or dose adjustment, and minor flags may only call for awareness.
Context around a specific patient determines real-world impact. Cyclosporine has 89 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Pitavastatin has 9. Each additional medication compounds the interaction surface, which is why pharmacists run full-profile checks rather than evaluating one pair at a time. FDA-derived guidance for this pair is: Do not take these two medications together. Timing of doses, renal and hepatic function, age, and other concurrent prescriptions all shape whether a labeled interaction matters clinically.
An interaction flag is not a verdict. A large share of labeled interactions are managed routinely in clinical practice, the fix may be as simple as spacing doses or adding a monitoring test. Others require the prescriber to choose a different medication entirely. This page surfaces FDA-sourced labeling and openFDA data for educational purposes only; it is not medical advice and cannot account for your full clinical picture. Never start, stop, or adjust either Cyclosporine or Pitavastatin based on a web page, speak with your prescriber or pharmacist before making any change.
Sources: FDA Drug Labels (SPL) via openFDA (2026). This is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider about drug interactions.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.