Skip to content

Endocrine · Reference monograph

Long-acting oxytocin analogue for postpartum haemorrhage prevention

Reference compound — not available from Purity Peptides. Shown for research context.

Overview

Carbetocin is a synthetic analogue of oxytocin developed by Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Its full chemical description is 1-deamino-1-monocarba-(2-O-methyltyrosine)-oxytocin: removal of the N-terminal amino group, replacement of the disulfide bridge with a more stable thioether bond and methylation of the tyrosine residue together protect it from enzymatic breakdown. As a result, carbetocin has a substantially longer duration of uterotonic action than oxytocin.

Carbetocin is approved through national authorisations in many countries, including in Europe and Brazil, for prevention of postpartum haemorrhage; it is not approved by the FDA. A major research focus has been heat stability. Oxytocin requires cold-chain storage, which is difficult to maintain in many low-resource settings. A heat-stable carbetocin formulation was developed and evaluated in the World Health Organization-led CHAMPION trial, published in 2018, which compared it with oxytocin after vaginal birth and found it non-inferior for blood-loss endpoints. These findings informed WHO recommendations and made carbetocin a prominent case study in global health formulation science.

Mechanism studied

  1. Carbetocin
  2. Oxytocin receptor
  3. Sustained uterine contraction
  4. Blood-loss endpoints

Carbetocin is an agonist at the oxytocin receptor, a Gq-coupled GPCR highly expressed in the myometrium at term. Receptor activation stimulates phospholipase C, producing inositol trisphosphate and releasing calcium from intracellular stores, which drives rhythmic uterine smooth muscle contraction and increases resting tone. Contraction of the myometrium compresses spiral arteries at the placental site, which is the physiological basis of research into postpartum blood loss. Because carbetocin resists aminopeptidase and disulfidase degradation, its uterotonic effect persists considerably longer than that of oxytocin. Like oxytocin, it shows some cross-reactivity with vasopressin receptors in pharmacological studies.

Research highlights

  • 01Developed by Ferring as a degradation-resistant oxytocin analogue with a thioether in place of the disulfide bridge.
  • 02The WHO-led CHAMPION trial, published in 2018, compared heat-stable carbetocin with oxytocin after vaginal birth.
  • 03Heat-stable formulation research addresses cold-chain limitations in low-resource settings.
  • 04Comparative studies after caesarean birth have examined the need for additional uterotonics.
  • 05Open questions include its relative performance in high-risk populations and optimal pairing with other uterotonics.

Latest published research

438 papers on PubMed →

  1. Retraction statement: carbetocin versus oxytocin for prevention of postpartum hemorrhage in obese nulliparous women undergoing emergency cesarean delivery

    The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine : the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians · 2026 Dec · PMID 42120321

  2. Retraction statement: Carbetocin versus syntometrine for prevention of postpartum hemorrhage after cesarean section

    The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine : the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians · 2026 Dec · PMID 41946668

  3. Oxytocin versus Carbetocin: Preventing Postpartum Hemorrhage in Elective C-section

    Singh M et al. · Annals of African medicine · 2026 Oct 13 · PMID 42860922

  4. Prophylactic Carbetocin Versus Oxytocin and Blood Loss After Vaginal Delivery: Agent Selection and Confounding by Indication in a Retrospective Cohort Study

    Tsui WL et al. · Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026 Oct 12 · PMID 42942498

  5. Uncorking Quantitative and Qualitative Seminal Traits in French-Alpine Bucks via Carbetocin Stimulation to Enhance Goat Production in Semi-Arid Environments

    Vargas-García DL et al. · Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026 Oct 8 · PMID 42883126

  6. The Effect of Carbetocin on Cardiac Repolarization: A Randomized, Placebo- and Positive-Controlled QT/QTc Study in Healthy Adults

    Jonker DM et al. · Clinical and translational science · 2026 Oct · PMID 42802704

  7. Retrospective cost-effectiveness analysis of carbetocin for the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage after vaginal birth: Evidence from a tertiary maternity center in France

    Poyet S et al. · International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026 Oct · PMID 42080631

  8. Timing of carbetocin administration in vaginal deliveries: a double-blind, randomized controlled trial

    Yıldız P et al. · Journal of perinatal medicine · 2026 Sep 25 · PMID 42286970

Live feed from PubMed (NCBI) for “Carbetocin”, updated 2026-10-30. Listing a paper is not an endorsement of its findings.

Registered studies

103 on ClinicalTrials.gov →

From the public ClinicalTrials.gov registry for “Carbetocin”, updated 2026-10-30. Shown for research context only; Purity Peptides products are not for human use.

Key references

  1. [1]Manufacturer's prescribing information — FDA / EMA / ANVISA
  2. [2]Widmer et al., 2018 — N Engl J Med 379:743–752

FAQ

  • Carbetocin lacks the N-terminal amino group, replaces the disulfide bridge with a thioether and carries a methylated tyrosine. These changes resist enzymatic breakdown, so its receptor activity lasts much longer than oxytocin's.

  • Oxytocin degrades without refrigeration, which limits its reliability where cold chains are weak. A heat-stable carbetocin formulation was studied in the WHO-led CHAMPION trial as a way to address this challenge.

  • Carbetocin is approved through national authorisations in Europe, Brazil and many other countries, but it is not approved by the FDA. Research material is supplied only for laboratory studies of oxytocin receptor pharmacology.

FOR RESEARCH USE ONLY.Not for human or veterinary use. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Related compounds

WhatsApp