Febuxostat and Theophylline Interaction

Drug interaction information between Febuxostat and Theophylline.

Febuxostat and Theophylline have a documented moderate interaction in FDA labeling.

FDA drug labeling documents a moderate-severity interaction between Febuxostat and Theophylline. 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

Febuxostat

Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitor

Drug B

Theophylline

Methylxanthine Bronchodilator

How They Interact

Febuxostat interferes with how the body breaks down theophylline, which can change the amount of medicine in your body.

FDA Label Information

Based on a drug interaction study in healthy patients, febuxostat altered the metabolism of theophylline (a substrate of XO) in humans [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ]. Therefore, use with caution when coadministering febuxostat with theophylline.

Frequently Asked Questions

What SPL severity band is on file for Febuxostat + Theophylline?

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?

Theophylline has 86 labeled pairs on file vs Febuxostat's 9. In the moderate band specifically: Febuxostat has 1; Theophylline has 5 (also Bupropion, Clarithromycin, Levofloxacin, Rifampin).

What mechanism field is on file for Febuxostat and Theophylline?

Febuxostat interferes with how the body breaks down theophylline, which can change the amount of medicine in your body.

Theophylline carries more major-labeled pairs than Febuxostat

SPL source-record counts only. This page's band is moderate · classes on file: Febuxostat (Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitor); Theophylline (Methylxanthine Bronchodilator).

Theophylline has 27 major-labeled pairs vs Febuxostat's 2. This page itself is in the moderate band, not the major band.

Febuxostat

2 major · 1 moderate · 6 minor · 9 total

Febuxostat has no other moderate-band peer in this dataset besides Theophylline.

Theophylline

27 major · 5 moderate · 54 minor · 86 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.