Famciclovir vs Acyclovir — 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

Compare across

11 dimensions

Herpes Simplex Virus Nucleoside Analog DNA Polymerase Inhibitor

Famciclovir

First FDA approval: 2007-09-05

Herpes Simplex Virus Nucleoside Analog DNA Polymerase Inhibitor

Acyclovir

Brand: Acyclovir suspension

First FDA approval: 1982-03-29

Lowest NADACAcquisition cost floor across all NDCs

$0.270Per unit

$0.077Per unit

Average NADACAcross all dosage forms and strengths

$0.501Up to $0.832

$0.887Up to $9.77

Generic manufacturersActive ANDA holders — FDA Orange Book

515 total ANDAs filed

3456 total ANDAs filed

Annualized Part D spendCY2024 — CMS Part D Spending Dashboard

$9.4MFull year

$55.7MFull year

Part D claims (CY24)Total fills, all strengths

182K93K beneficiaries

3.0M1.2M beneficiaries

Avg cost per claimCalculated: total spend ÷ total claims

$52Per claim, all NDCs

$18Per claim, all NDCs

Part D plans surveyed2026 plan year — CMS Formulary file

329Across CMS plan year

Prior-authorization frictionPlan-NDC pairs requiring PA

0Zero PA friction

380Substantial friction

Step therapy appliedPlan-NDC pairs requiring step therapy

0None

1Limited friction

FDA shortage statusLive cross-reference vs FDA Drug Shortage Database

NoneClear

Generic availableFDA Orange Book

Yes5 manufacturers

Yes34 manufacturers