trifarotene trifarotene trifarotene, sold under the brand name aklief, is a medication for the topical treatment of acne vulgaris. it is a retinoid; more specifically, it is a fourth generation selective retinoic acid receptor (rar)-γ agonist. trifaroteneclinical datatrade namesakliefother namescd5789ahfs/drugs.commonographmedlineplusa620004license data us dailymed: trifarotene pregnancycategory au: d contraindicated routes ofadministrationtopicaldrug classskin and mucous membrane agentsatc coded10ad06 (who) legal statuslegal status au: s4 (prescription only) ca: ℞-only us: ℞-only eu: rx-only identifiers iupac name 4-benzoic acid cas number895542-09-3pubchem cid11518241drugbankdb12808chemspider9693029unii0j8rn2w0hkkeggd11225chemblchembl3707313comptox dashboard (epa)dtxsid30237781 echa infocard100.278.901 chemical and physical dataformulac29h33no4molar mass459.586 g·mol−13d model (jsmol)interactive image smiles cc(c)(c)c1cc(-c2cc(-c3ccc(c(=o)o)cc3)ccc2occo)ccc1n1cccc1 inchi inchi=1s/c29h33no4/c1-29(2,3)25-19-23(10-12-26(25)30-14-4-5-15-30)24-18-22(11-13-27(24)34-17-16-31)20-6-8-21(9-7-20)28(32)33/h6-13,18-19,31h,4-5,14-17h2,1-3h3,(h,32,33)key:mfbcdaccjcdgba-uhfffaoysa-n trifarotene was granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of congenital ichthyosis by both the u.s. food and drug administration (fda) and the european medicines agency (ema). it was approved for medical use in the united states in october 2019. in december 2019, its labelling and package leaflet text received a decentralised approval for 16 european countries. medical uses in the united states, trifarotene is indicated for the topical treatment of acne vulgaris in people nine years of age and older. in both canada and australia, it is indicated for the topical treatment of acne vulgaris of the face and/or the trunk in people twelve years of age and older. society and culture legal status trifarotene was approved for medical use in the united states in october 2019, in canada in november 2019, and in australia in january 2021.