Buprenorphine vs Buprenorphine and Naloxone Hydrochloride — 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.

Drug 1

Drug 2

Drug 3 (optional)

Drug 4 (optional)

Side by side, line by line.

Federal data onlyNo PBM pricing assumed

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11 dimensions

Partial Opioid Agonist

Buprenorphine

Brand: BELBUCA

First FDA approval: 2005-05-25

Partial Opioid Agonist

Buprenorphine and Naloxone Hydrochloride

First FDA approval: 2014-06-27

Lowest NADACAcquisition cost floor across all NDCs

$0.294Per unit

$0.481Per unit

Average NADACAcross all dosage forms and strengths

$25.64Up to $131.09

$0.572Up to $0.662

Generic manufacturersActive ANDA holders — FDA Orange Book

1539 total ANDAs filed

00 total ANDAs filed

Annualized Part D spendCY2024 — CMS Part D Spending Dashboard

$536.9MFull year

—Full year

Part D claims (CY24)Total fills, all strengths

1.7M350K beneficiaries

—— beneficiaries

Avg cost per claimCalculated: total spend ÷ total claims

$317Per claim, all NDCs

—Per claim, all NDCs

Part D plans surveyed2026 plan year — CMS Formulary file

329Across CMS plan year

Prior-authorization frictionPlan-NDC pairs requiring PA

631Substantial friction

0Zero PA friction

Step therapy appliedPlan-NDC pairs requiring step therapy

0None

FDA shortage statusLive cross-reference vs FDA Drug Shortage Database

NoneClear

Generic availableFDA Orange Book

Yes15 manufacturers

NoBrand-only