Halofantrine

---

title: "Halofantrine" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["dibutylamino-compounds", "secondary-alcohols", "antimalarial-agents", "chloroarenes", "cyp2d6-inhibitors", "trifluoromethyl-compounds", "phenanthrenes", "sri-international", "drugs-developed-by-gsk-plc"] description: "Chemical compound" topic_path: "general/dibutylamino-compounds" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halofantrine" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Chemical compound ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox drug"]

Field	Value
verifiedrevid	461766301
IUPAC_name	3-(Dibutylamino)-1-[1,3-dichloro-6-(trifluoromethyl)-9-phenanthryl]-1-propanol
image	Halofantrine.svg
image_class	skin-invert-image
tradename	Halfan
Drugs.com
MedlinePlus	a603030
pregnancy_AU
pregnancy_US
legal_AU
legal_UK
legal_US
routes_of_administration	Oral
protein_bound	60–70%
metabolism	Hepatic (CYP3A4-mediated)
elimination_half-life	6–10 days
CAS_number_Ref
CAS_number	69756-53-2
ATC_prefix	P01
ATC_suffix	BX01
PubChem	37393
DrugBank_Ref
DrugBank	DB01218
ChemSpiderID_Ref
ChemSpiderID	34303
UNII_Ref
UNII	Q2OS4303HZ
ChEMBL_Ref
ChEMBL	1107
C	26
smiles	FC(F)(F)c3ccc2c(cc1c(Cl)cc(Cl)cc1c2c3)C(O)CCN(CCCC)CCCC
StdInChI_Ref
StdInChI	1S/C26H30Cl2F3NO/c1-3-5-10-32(11-6-4-2)12-9-25(33)23-16-22-21(14-18(27)15-24(22)28)20-13-17(26(29,30)31)7-8-19(20)23/h7-8,13-16,25,33H,3-6,9-12H2,1-2H3
StdInChIKey_Ref
StdInChIKey	FOHHNHSLJDZUGQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N
::

| verifiedrevid = 461766301 | IUPAC_name = 3-(Dibutylamino)-1-[1,3-dichloro-6-(trifluoromethyl)-9-phenanthryl]-1-propanol | image = Halofantrine.svg | image_class = skin-invert-image

| tradename = Halfan | Drugs.com = | MedlinePlus = a603030 | pregnancy_AU = | pregnancy_US = | legal_AU = | legal_UK = | legal_US = | routes_of_administration = Oral

| protein_bound = 60–70% | metabolism = Hepatic (CYP3A4-mediated) | elimination_half-life = 6–10 days

| CAS_number_Ref = | CAS_number = 69756-53-2 | ATC_prefix = P01 | ATC_suffix = BX01 | PubChem = 37393 | DrugBank_Ref = | DrugBank = DB01218 | ChemSpiderID_Ref = | ChemSpiderID = 34303 | UNII_Ref = | UNII = Q2OS4303HZ | ChEMBL_Ref = | ChEMBL = 1107

| C=26 | H=30 | Cl=2 | F=3 | N=1 | O=1 | smiles = FC(F)(F)c3ccc2c(cc1c(Cl)cc(Cl)cc1c2c3)C(O)CCN(CCCC)CCCC | StdInChI_Ref = | StdInChI = 1S/C26H30Cl2F3NO/c1-3-5-10-32(11-6-4-2)12-9-25(33)23-16-22-21(14-18(27)15-24(22)28)20-13-17(26(29,30)31)7-8-19(20)23/h7-8,13-16,25,33H,3-6,9-12H2,1-2H3 | StdInChIKey_Ref = | StdInChIKey = FOHHNHSLJDZUGQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N

Halofantrine is a drug used to treat malaria. Halofantrine's structure contains a substituted phenanthrene, and is related to the antimalarial drugs quinine and lumefantrine. Marketed as Halfan, halofantrine is never used to prevent malaria and its mode of action is unknown, although a crystallographic study showed that it binds to hematin in vitro, suggesting a possible mechanism of action. Halofantrine has also been shown to bind to plasmepsin, a haemoglobin degrading enzyme unique to the malarial parasites.

Halofantrine was developed at SRI International for the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research from 1965 to 1975 by a team led by medicinal chemist William Colwell.

Adverse reactions

Halofantrine can cause abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, rash, headache, itching and elevated liver enzymes.

It can be associated with cardiotoxicity. The most dangerous side effect is cardiac arrhythmias: halofantrine causes significant QT prolongation, and this effect is seen even at standard doses. The drug should therefore not be given to patients with cardiac conduction defects and should not be combined with mefloquine. A survey from 2009 suggests that the drug is safe when correctly administered.

Other adverse reactions

Consumption of grapefruit combined with certain medications can cause serious side effects, even death. Halofantrine combined with this fruit or grapefruit juice is dangerous. The mechanism of action is inhibition of CYP3A4, which is necessary to metabolize the drug and eliminate it from the body. Without CYP3A4, levels of the drug will become toxic in the body.

Pharmacology

The mechanism of action of halofantrine is unknown. The absorption of halofantrine is erratic, but is increased when taken with fatty food. Because of fears of toxicity due to increased halofantrine blood levels, halofantrine should be taken on an empty stomach.

Plasma levels peak at 16 hours and the half-life of the drug is about 4 days.

Uses

Halofantrine is only used to treat malaria. It is not used to prevent malaria (prophylaxis) because of the risk of toxicity and unreliable absorption.

Dosing

Adult dose: three doses of 500 mg six hours apart. Halofantrine should be taken on an empty stomach.

Manufacturing information and availability

Halfan (GlaxoSmithKline) is available as 250 mg tablets. A full course of treatment (6 tablets) costs US$1.40 in the developing world. Halofantrine is not available in the UK or U.S.

References

References

1. (2008). "The crystal structure of halofantrine-ferriprotoporphyrin IX and the mechanism of action of arylmethanol antimalarials". J. Inorg. Biochem..
2. (2009). "Discovery of plasmepsin inhibitors by fragment-based docking and consensus scoring". ChemMedChem.
3. Nielson, Donald. (2006). "A Heritage of Innovation: SRI's First Half Century". SRI International.
4. (May 2000). "Mechanism of cardiotoxicity of halofantrine". Clin. Pharmacol. Ther..
5. (2004). "Block of wild-type and inactivation-deficient human ether-a-go-go-related gene K+ channels by halofantrine". Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol..
6. (2009). "Fatal cardiotoxicity related to halofantrine: a review based on a worldwide safety data base". Malaria Journal.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::