What pharmacies paid for meloxicam and cyclobenzaprine, 2013 to 2026

On July 19, 2006, FDA approved 13 generic versions of the 15 mg meloxicam tablet in a single day, according to the agency's Drugs@FDA¹ records. Twenty years later, a retail pharmacy pays about 55 cents for 30 of them, or 1.8 cents a tablet, according to the federal government's 2026 NADAC files⁷.

Cyclobenzaprine, a muscle relaxant whose first generic was approved in 1988, is cheaper still. In October 2026 pharmacies paid 52 cents for 30 of its 10 mg tablets (1.7 cents a tablet). Of the 47 drugs in GxRadar's price basket, only amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide cost less per typical fill, and the median drug's fill cost $1.28.

Both are heavily used. Medicaid paid for about 2.4 million meloxicam prescriptions and 3.2 million cyclobenzaprine prescriptions in 2025, according to its State Drug Utilization Data⁸, and 30 tablets is the typical fill for each in that data. Their price histories show what happens to a generic after years of crowded competition. The cost started near the floor, and the moves since have been small in dollars. This piece lays out the monthly NADAC figures for each drug, the generic approval record and the recent changes in how CMS calculates the rate. Every figure is an acquisition cost, what pharmacies paid, and not a counter price.

Two common prescriptions

Meloxicam is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug used "to relieve pain, tenderness, swelling, and stiffness" caused by osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, according to the National Library of Medicine's MedlinePlus entry⁹. Its MedlinePlus entry opens with a warning about the risk of heart attack and stroke for people who take NSAIDs other than aspirin. Our guide to what a prescription drug label contains explains where such warnings sit. Cyclobenzaprine "is used to treat muscle spasms," MedlinePlus says¹⁰, and belongs to a class called skeletal muscle relaxants. Fill sizes in this piece describe how prescriptions are commonly dispensed. Questions about either drug's use are for a pharmacist or prescriber.

What a fill cost, year by year

Each figure is GxRadar's monthly median of the weekly NADAC per-unit rate for generic-classified products, multiplied by 30. The first month is from the 2013 NADAC file³ and the January 2014 base month from the 2014 file⁴.

For a decade, neither drug moved much. Cyclobenzaprine's October cost stayed between 66 and 74 cents from 2014 through 2023. Meloxicam ranged from 55 to 76 cents. Most of cyclobenzaprine's decline came in the last three years, after October 2023, when the 30-tablet cost fell from 69 cents to 52.

Cheap from the start

Across the 43 basket drugs with a January 2014 price, GxRadar's analysis of CMS files through October 2026 puts the median change at a 43 percent decline. Both of these drugs fell about 30 percent. Over five years, the basket median was a 26 percent decline, measured from the October 2021 files⁵, and meloxicam fell 25 percent and cyclobenzaprine 30 percent.

Part of the explanation is arithmetic. A drug that cost pharmacies 2 or 3 cents a tablet in 2013 had less room to fall than one that cost 15 cents. FDA's economists found in a 2019 analysis¹¹ that generic prices end up more than 95 percent below the pre-generic brand price once six or more makers are selling. Both drugs had more than six approved generic applications for these strengths, a rough stand-in for makers, years before the NADAC series began: meloxicam by the end of 2006, cyclobenzaprine by 1995. Our piece on the cheapest pills in the basket looks at the rest of the bottom tier.

The generic record

The counts are GxRadar's tally of FDA's application records in the openFDA Drugs@FDA download² updated Nov. 2, 2026, limited to applications that include the basket strength. "Listed as marketed" means at least one product under the application has a prescription marketing status. It does not measure who is shipping product. The drug pages for meloxicam and cyclobenzaprine count every strength and form, including meloxicam capsules and cyclobenzaprine extended-release capsules, so their totals are higher.

The two arrived in opposite ways. Meloxicam's generics came in a wave, with 21 approvals for the 15 mg tablet in 2006 and only two more since. Cyclobenzaprine's built up over 36 years, from a single approval in 1988 to seven more from 1991 through 1995 and then a steady trickle, with at least one approval in nine of the years since 2005. Of the 21 meloxicam applications approved in 2006, 10 still have a marketed product. The approvals page shows the year-by-year total for all generics, and our competition explainer covers what happens to prices as makers arrive.

The 2024 swings and the three-month average

Both drugs hit their lowest month in December 2024, during the sharp moves in the 2024 NADAC files⁶ that CMS attributed to "fluctuations in survey participation," according to its NADAC page¹². Starting with rates effective Dec. 18, 2024, CMS began calculating monthly generic rates as a three-month moving average, a step described in its methodology document¹³ as temporary and continuing "until further notice." Our account of the 2024 NADAC swings covers the whole basket.

The change shows up in these two series. By GxRadar's count, meloxicam's average month-to-month move was 4.6 percent in 2024 and 1.2 percent from January 2025 through October 2026. Cyclobenzaprine's went from 5.9 percent to 1.8 percent. In dollars, a 5 percent move on a 52-cent fill is under 3 cents.

Recalls and shortages

Neither drug is on FDA's current shortage list, according to GxRadar's copy of FDA's shortage data¹⁴ and our shortage tracker. FDA's enforcement records, published through openFDA¹⁵, list two recall entries for meloxicam 15 mg tablets since 2012, both Class II. For cyclobenzaprine 10 mg tablets they list one, a Class I recall in September 2025 for a labeling or packaging error, still marked ongoing. Our guide to checking whether a medicine was recalled explains how to match a recall to a bottle by lot number.

What to watch

CMS posts the monthly NADAC file on the first Monday on or after the 15th of each month, so the November 2026 rates are due Nov. 16. CMS has said it plans to seek stakeholder input on a more permanent fix for rate volatility, and any change to the three-month average would show up first in drugs like these, where a fraction of a cent is a large share of the price.