ALBENZA (albendazole) is an orally administered anthelmintic drug. Chemically, it is methyl 5¬ (propylthio)-2-benzimidazolecarbamate, is indicated to treatment of parenchymal neurocysticercosis due to active lesions caused by larval forms of the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium. In addition, treatment of cystic hydatid disease of the liver, lung, and peritoneum, caused by the larval form of the dog tapeworm, Echinococcus granulosus. Albendazole binds to the colchicine-sensitive site of β-tubulin inhibiting their polymerization into microtubules. The decrease in microtubules in the intestinal cells of the parasites decreases their absorptive function, especially the uptake of glucose by the adult and larval forms of the parasites, and depletes glycogen storage. Insufficient glucose results in insufficient energy for the production of adenosine trisphosphate (ATP) and the parasite eventually dies. Albendazole developed in 1975. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the most important medications needed in a basic health system. The incidence of side effects reported in the published literature is very low, with only gastrointestinal side effects occurring with an overall frequency of just >1% . Albendazole's unique broad-spectrum activity is exemplified in the overall cure rates calculated from studies employing the recommended doses for hookworm (78% in 68 studies: 92%, for A. duodenale in 23 studies and 75% for N. americanus in 30 studies), A. lumbricoides (95% in 64 studies), T. trichiura (48% in 57 studies), E. vermicularis (98% in 27 studies), S. stercoralis (62% in 19 studies), H. nana (68% in 11 studies), and Taenia spp. (85% in 7 studies).

Albendazole oxide (Ricobendazole) is a methylcarbamate benzimidazole with a broad-spectrum anthelmintic activity. Ricobendazole is a key metabolite of albendazole. Ricobendazole has broad spectrum anthelmintic action; the drug is active against adult and immature nematodes (Dictyocaulus, Haemonchus, Ostertagia, Thelazia, Trichostrongylus, Nematodirus, Cooperia, Oesophagostomum, Bunostomum, Chabertia etc.), tapeworms (Moniezia, Avitellinae, Thysaniezia etc.), as well as adult flukes (Fasciola, Paramphistom, and Dicrocoelium), having an egg-killing effect; it reduces pasture contamination with helminth eggs. The mechanism of action of ricobendazole (albendazole sulfoxide), ensuring its anthelmintic activity, is associated with selective inhibition of beta-tubulin polymerization, which leads to the destruction of cytoplasmic microtubules of helminth intestinal cells; it inhibits the processes of glucose transport and disposal, and inhibits the synthesis of ATP; it blocks the movement of secretory granules and other organelles in the muscle cells of worms, disrupting the permeability of cell membranes and muscle innervation, which causes paralysis and death of the parasites. Albendazole oxide has been shown to induce apoptosis in human cancer cell line HT-29, possibly by arresting the cell cycle at the G2/M phase.