Are there preservatives, colorants, or coatings in ivermectin tablets and what purpose do they serve?
Executive summary
Ivermectin tablets sold for human use are documented in official product labels and drug information sources as simple, uncoated, white to yellowish‑white tablets whose inactive ingredients are colloidal silicon dioxide, croscarmellose sodium, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, and pregelatinized starch [1] [2] [3] [4]. The sources provided do not list any colorants, preservatives, or dedicated coating agents for the standard oral ivermectin tablet and do not include a detailed explanation of each inactive ingredient’s function in the formulation [1] [2] [3].
1. What the labels actually say about “other” ingredients
Multiple authoritative product documents for ivermectin tablets—FDA/Stromectol labeling, DailyMed entries and generic prescribing information—explicitly list the inactive ingredients present in the 3 mg and 6 mg tablets as microcrystalline cellulose, croscarmellose sodium, colloidal silicon dioxide, pregelatinized starch and magnesium stearate [1] [2] [3], and describe the active substance as a white to yellowish‑white, crystalline powder [4].
2. Absence of colorants, preservatives and coatings in the provided labels
None of the product labels and drug information excerpts supplied in reporting enumerate dyes, colorants, preservative chemicals, or film/coating polymers among the listed inactive ingredients for the oral ivermectin tablets; the formulations cited appear to be uncoated tablets by omission in the ingredient list and by the tablet description as white to yellowish‑white [1] [2] [3] [4].
3. Practical clue: tablets can be cut or crushed in practice documents
Consumer and clinical guidance on the oral ivermectin tablet indicate the tablet may be cut or crushed when necessary—guidance that is inconsistent with the presence of a specialized swallowing film or decorative coating that would prevent crushing—reinforcing that the marketed human tablets are simple immediate‑release forms without colored film coatings in the cited materials [5].
4. What the listed inactive ingredients tell reporting — and what they do not
The supplied documents repeatedly name a small set of excipients (microcrystalline cellulose, croscarmellose sodium, colloidal silicon dioxide, pregelatinized starch, magnesium stearate) in the ivermectin tablets [1] [2] [3], but the sources do not in themselves explain the specific functional role attributed to each excipient in these labels; the reporting therefore documents what is present but does not provide an explicit label‑level rationale for each ingredient’s purpose [1] [2] [3].
5. Limits of available reporting and how to interpret the formulation facts
The documented ingredient lists and tablet description allow a direct answer to whether commercial human ivermectin tablets, as presented in these product labels and drug databases, contain colorants, preservatives or coatings: the cited labels do not list any colorants, preservatives or coating agents for the standard oral tablet [1] [2] [3] [4]. Beyond those ingredient lists, however, the supplied sources do not expand on formulation science or state the manufacturing rationale for each inactive ingredient; therefore, any detailed functional attributions would require consulting pharmaceutical formulation references or the manufacturer’s full technical documentation, which are not part of the provided reporting.