[3] Rifabutin is now recommended as first-line treatment for tuberculosis (TB),[4] but rifampicin was used more widely because of its cheaper cost.

Common side effects include abdominal pain, nausea, rash, headache, and low blood neutrophil levels.

[1] Other side effects include muscles pains and uveitis.,[1] especially when hitting Bartonella and Babesia colonies in the capillaries of the ciliary body in the eye anterior chamber.

(Eventually Archifar became part of Farmitalia Carlo Erba, a unit of the conglomerate Montedison which was subsequently bought by Pharmacia) This company's Adria Laboratories subsidiary filed for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of rifabutin under the brand name Mycobutin in the early 1990s and the drug gained FDA approval in December 1992.

Its effect on bacteria is based on the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase blocking drug rifamycin S, a semi-synthetic derivative.