Novidat Tablets 250mg and 500mg (Ciprofloxacin)

• Registered with DRAP under number 011837. Registered 21 November 1990 (DRAP registry entry).
• DRAP’s price index lists Rs 647.69 for the 500 mg 10-tablet pack, effective 23 July 2026 (DRAP price index). Our cartons carry a lower printed price, Rs 445, and that is what we charge. The 250 mg is registered separately (DRAP reg. 011836); its price is below.
• Ciprofloxacin is on Pakistan’s National Essential Medicines List 2025. The World Health Organization classes it as a “Watch” antibiotic (WHO AWaRe classification, 2025): one with “higher resistance potential”, which “should be prioritized as key targets of stewardship programs”.
• Prescription: Sami’s Novidat product information (SmPC) gives the condition of sale in its Urdu instructions: “صرف رجسٹرڈ ڈاکٹر کے نسخے کے مطابق فروخت کریں” (sell only on a registered doctor’s prescription). So we dispense both strengths on prescription only. Why that matters, below.

DRAP’s price index lists Rs 367.98 for the 250 mg 10’s (effective 23 July 2026), and its registry records an approved price of Rs 275, which is the price printed on our carton and what we charge. DRAP also registers Novidat 750 mg and extended-release tablets, oral suspensions, infusions and eye drops. We do not list them here.

• The World Health Organization (fact sheet, 16 July 2026): “The misuse and overuse of antibiotics, for example taking them when they are not needed or taking the wrong type, remains one of the main drivers of AMR” (antimicrobial resistance).
• Stopping early: the NHS ciprofloxacin page (reviewed 9 October 2026) says “It's important to keep taking your medicine until you've finished it all, even if you start to feel better.” The WHO (2020, archived) puts it differently: “Feeling better, or an improvement in symptoms, does not always mean that the infection has completely gone… always follow their advice.” Both say the same thing to you: take it exactly as your doctor prescribed, and don’t stop or change it on your own.
• In Pakistan: the government’s National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (May 2017) says “Availability of over the counter (OTC) without prescription medications, especially antibiotics is a common practice”, and that these practices “have created a vicious cycle with emergence of resistance in common bacteria”.
• And the label itself: “Because of the risk of prolonged, disabling and potentially irreversible serious adverse drug reactions this product must only be prescribed when other antibiotics that are commonly recommended for the infection are inappropriate” (Sami’s Novidat product information (SmPC), section 4.1).

• Tendon pain, swelling or inflammation, especially at the back of the ankle (the Achilles tendon). The label says it can happen within 48 hours of starting, and even several months after stopping.
• Nerve symptoms: “pain, burning, tingling, numbness, or weakness”.
• Sudden, severe pain in the chest, stomach or back: go to an emergency department straight away. The label links this to aortic aneurysm and dissection.
• Sudden breathlessness, a new pounding or irregular heartbeat, or swelling of the stomach or legs: get medical help straight away.
• Changes in mood or thinking: depression, confusion, agitation, hallucinations, or thoughts of harming yourself. The label says these can occur even after the first dose.
• A fit (seizure), a rash with swelling of the face or throat, or difficulty breathing.
• Severe or lasting diarrhoea, during treatment or in the weeks after.
• Yellow skin or eyes, dark urine, or itching all over: possible liver injury.
• Any change in your eyesight: the label says to see an eye specialist immediately.

• Must not take it: anyone allergic to ciprofloxacin or any other quinolone antibiotic.
• Must not take it: anyone taking tizanidine, a muscle relaxant we sell as Movax. If you take Movax, tell the doctor prescribing the antibiotic.
• Anyone who has had a serious side effect from any quinolone or fluoroquinolone antibiotic before: the label says to avoid it.
• Tendon problems: a past tendon problem with a quinolone; older age; an organ transplant; or taking a steroid such as prednisolone.
• Kidney problems also raise the tendon risk, according to the UK SmPC and the suspension section of the same Sami document. The tablet section of Sami’s SmPC does not list them.
• Aortic aneurysm or dissection, heart valve disease, or a family history of aneurysm or of heart valve disease from birth.
• Conditions the label names as raising the risk of aortic aneurysm, dissection or leaking heart valves: Marfan or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Turner syndrome, Behçet’s disease, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis; Takayasu arteritis, giant cell arteritis, known atherosclerosis, Sjögren’s syndrome; and infective endocarditis.
• Myasthenia gravis: the regulators disagree. The US label says to avoid ciprofloxacin; Sami’s label and the UK SmPC say to use it with caution, because symptoms can get worse.
• Epilepsy, or any condition that makes fits more likely.
• Heart rhythm problems, including long QT syndrome, heart failure, a slow heartbeat, low potassium or magnesium, or medicines that affect the heart rhythm.
• Diabetes treated with insulin or tablets: blood sugar can go too low or too high.
• G6PD deficiency: the label says to avoid it unless the benefit outweighs the risk of red blood cell damage.
• Liver or kidney disease.