Clofazimine, sold under the brand name Lamprene, is a medication used together with rifampicin and dapsone to treat leprosy.

[2] Evidence is insufficient to support its use in other conditions[1] though a retrospective study found it 95% effective in the treatment of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) when administered with a macrolide and ethambutol,[3] as well as the drugs amikacin and clarithromycin.

Clofazimine also has a marked anti-inflammatory effect and is given to control the leprosy reaction, erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL).

[8] Early research suggested clofazimine inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and reduce viral load and inflammation in the lung in animal models [9] Clofazimine produces pink to brownish skin pigmentation in 75-100% of patients within a few weeks, as well as similar discoloration of most bodily fluids and secretions.

Autopsies performed on those who have died while on clofazimine show crystal-like aggregates in the intestinal mucosa, liver, spleen, and lymph nodes.

[16] Clofazimine, initially known as B663, was first synthesised in 1954 by a team of scientists at Trinity College, Dublin: Frank Winder, J.G.

After clinical trials in Nigeria and elsewhere during the 1960s, Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis launched the product in 1969 under the brand name Lamprene.

[citation needed] Novartis was granted FDA approval of clofazimine in December 1986 as an orphan drug.

[citation needed] The immunosuppressive effects of clofazimine were immediately noticed when applied in animal model.

[18] Clofazimine also showed a dosage-dependent inhibition of neutrophil motility, lymphocyte transformation,[19] mitogen-induced PBMC proliferation[20] and complement-mediated solubilization of pre-formed immune complexes in vitro.