What medicine is Eltrombopag/Eltrombopag?

Eltrombopag (Eltrombopag) is a medicine containing the active ingredient eltrombopag. It belongs to a class of drugs called thrombopoietin receptor agonists, which promote the production of platelets in the bone marrow.

Eltrombopag is mainly used to treat patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), a condition that causes an abnormally low number of platelets in the blood, which may cause abnormal bruising or bleeding. For adults and children 1 year and older, eltrombopag can increase platelet counts and reduce the risk of bleeding. Eltrombopag may also be an option if other treatments, including medications or splenectomy surgery, don't help or cure the disease effectively.

Eltrombopag is also used in people with hepatitis C, a viral infection that can cause damage to the liver. By increasing patients' platelet counts, eltrombopag can help them start and continue treatment with interferons (such as peginterferon) and ribavirin.

In addition, eltrombopag can be used in combination with other drugs to treat aplastic anemia. The disease causes the body to fail to produce enough new blood cells. In adults and pediatric patients 2 years of age and older, eltrombopag can be used to increase platelet counts to reduce the risk of bleeding in patients with ITP or aplastic anemia if other drug treatments are ineffective.

To be clear, however, eltrombopag does not increase platelet counts to normal levels and is not indicated for the treatment of patients with low platelet counts caused by conditions other than ITP, hepatitis C, or aplastic anemia.