Budesonide vs Dexamethasone — Cost, Coverage & Plan Comparison

Pick the drugs you want to compare.

Up to 4 drugsCross-class or same-class

Start with the molecules your plan spends the most on. Most useful comparisons live within the same therapeutic class — switching across classes requires deeper clinical review.

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Side by side, line by line.

Federal data onlyNo PBM pricing assumed

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11 dimensions

Corticosteroid

Budesonide

Brand: Eohilia

First FDA approval: 2000-09-08

Corticosteroid

Dexamethasone

Brand: DEXTENZA

First FDA approval: 1975-05-19

Lowest NADACAcquisition cost floor across all NDCs

$0.515Per unit

$0.030Per unit

Average NADACAcross all dosage forms and strengths

$12.11Up to $253.50

$0.398Up to $13.19

Generic manufacturersActive ANDA holders — FDA Orange Book

1523 total ANDAs filed

2070 total ANDAs filed

Annualized Part D spendCY2024 — CMS Part D Spending Dashboard

$299.4MFull year

$35.4MFull year

Part D claims (CY24)Total fills, all strengths

972K358K beneficiaries

2.4M1.5M beneficiaries

Avg cost per claimCalculated: total spend ÷ total claims

$308Per claim, all NDCs

$15Per claim, all NDCs

Part D plans surveyed2026 plan year — CMS Formulary file

329Across CMS plan year

Prior-authorization frictionPlan-NDC pairs requiring PA

1181Substantial friction

5Minimal friction

Step therapy appliedPlan-NDC pairs requiring step therapy

8Limited friction

0None

FDA shortage statusLive cross-reference vs FDA Drug Shortage Database

NoneClear

Active shortageSee drug profile

Generic availableFDA Orange Book

Yes15 manufacturers

Yes20 manufacturers