The price you pay for Xolair (omalizumab) may depend on factors such as the form you’re prescribed, whether you have health insurance, and the pharmacy you use. Financial assistance may be available to help you with the cost of Xolair.

Several factors can affect the price you’ll pay for Xolair. These include:

  • your treatment plan
  • the pharmacy you use
  • your insurance coverage
  • the cost of the visit to your healthcare professional to receive doses of Xolair
  • available financial assistance for Xolair (see the “Financial and insurance assistance” section)

Xolair may need to be purchased through a specialty pharmacy authorized to carry specialty drugs. This type of drug may be costly or require help from healthcare professionals to be taken safely and effectively. For more details about how to obtain Xolair, talk with your doctor.

If you need financial support to pay for Xolair or help understanding your insurance coverage, assistance is available. For example:

  • The drug manufacturer offers the Xolair Co-pay Program. For more information and to find out whether you’re eligible for support, call 855-965-2472 or visit the program website.
  • Some websites provide details about drug assistance programs, ways to make the most of your insurance coverage, and links to savings cards and other services. Two such websites are:

The following are answers to some frequently asked questions about Xolair and cost.

Why is Xolair so expensive?

Xolair is a brand-name biologic medication. Brand-name drugs can be expensive due to the studies needed to test their safety and effectiveness before they are approved for use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Makers of brand-name biologic drugs can patent and sell their drug for up to 12 years before other drugmakers can make and sell biosimilar versions of the drug.

Biosimilar medications contain the same active ingredients as brand-name biologic medications. So they don’t require the same costly testing for FDA approval. This is one reason biosimilar drugs usually cost significantly less than brand-name biologic medications like Xolair.

For more about why Xolair and other brand-name biologics are so expensive compared with their biosimilar counterparts, talk with your doctor or pharmacist.

Is the price of Xolair injections higher if I receive 300-mg doses instead of 150-mg doses?

It’s possible. The price of Xolair may be higher if you’re taking a higher dosage. The usual dosage of Xolair for chronic urticaria (a type of hives) is 150 mg or 300 mg every 4 weeks. Dosage will vary for other conditions.

If you have questions about how your dosage may affect the cost of Xolair, talk with your doctor. Read more about Xolair dosage.

What’s the cost of Xolair with insurance and without insurance?

What you pay for Xolair if you have insurance compared to what you’d pay without it depends on several factors.

Factors that could affect what you pay for this drug without insurance include:

  • whether you apply and qualify for any available savings programs
  • your dosage and treatment plan
  • the pharmacy you use
  • the form of the drug you’re prescribed (such as the prefilled syringe or autoinjector)

These same factors may affect your price for Xolair if you have insurance. But the price you pay with insurance will also depend on:

  • your specific plan benefits
  • any prior authorization requirements you have for drug coverage

If you don’t have insurance coverage for prescriptions, you may be able to receive Xolair through the Genentech Patient Foundation.

To learn more about what you’d pay for Xolair with or without insurance, talk with your doctor, pharmacist, or insurance provider (if you have one).

Is Xolair covered by Medicare?

Whether Medicare covers or not depends on your specific Medicare plan. Different plans have different copay options, and not all plans may cover Xolair. Talk with your doctor, pharmacist, or Medicare plan representative if you have questions about what you’ll pay for Xolair with your Medicare plan.

Xolair is only available as a brand-name drug. Xolair is a biologic drug, which means it’s made from parts of living organisms. It doesn’t come in a biosimilar form. Biosimilars are like generic drugs. Unlike generics, which are made for nonbiologic drugs, biosimilars are made for biologic drugs.

Why is there such a cost difference between biologic drugs and biosimilar drugs?

Biologic drugs can be expensive because of the research and testing needed to ensure their safety and effectiveness. The drugmaker of a biologic drug can sell it for up to 12 years. When the biologic drug’s patent expires, other drugmakers can create biosimilar versions. This competition in the market may lead to lower costs for biosimilars. And because biosimilars are very similar to biologic drugs, they don’t need to be studied again. This can also lead to lower costs for biosimilars.

If you use Xolair long term and you inject the medication yourself, you may be able to lower your costs in the following ways:

Look into getting a 90-day supply of your medication: You may be able to get a 90-day supply of Xolair if approved by your insurance company. This could help lower your cost of Xolair. If you’re interested in getting a 90-day supply of this drug, talk with your doctor, pharmacist, or insurance provider.

Use a mail-order pharmacy to get your medication: Using a mail-order pharmacy might help lower your cost for Xolair. Plus, you could get your medication without leaving home. Some Medicare plans may help cover the cost of mail-order drugs. You may also be able to get a 90-day supply of the drug through mail order. If you don’t have health insurance, talk with your doctor or pharmacist. They may be able to suggest online pharmacy options that could work for you.

You may want to consider the following information if you have insurance and use Xolair.

If you have insurance, your insurance company may require prior authorization before it covers Xolair. This means the company and your doctor will discuss the drug in regard to your treatment. The insurance company will then determine whether Xolair is covered.

If a drug requires prior authorization but you start treatment without the prior approval, you could pay the full cost of the medication. You can ask your insurance company whether Xolair requires prior authorization.

Disclaimer: Healthline has made every effort to make certain that all information is factually correct, comprehensive, and up to date. However, this article should not be used as a substitute for the knowledge and expertise of a licensed healthcare professional. You should always consult your doctor or another healthcare professional before taking any medication. The drug information contained herein is subject to change and is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. The absence of warnings or other information for a given drug does not indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective, or appropriate for all patients or all specific uses.