Updated Nov 4, 2026FDA and CMS public dataIndependent · free · not health advice
GxRadar
Drugs/Metformin 500 mg tablet
Diabetes

Metformin 500 mg tablet

Public data on metformin from CMS and FDA: what pharmacies have paid for it, how many generic applications FDA has approved, and whether it appears in FDA's shortage or recall records.

$0.0148
NADAC per ea (2026-11)
approximate acquisition cost, not a retail price
-9%
change over five years
peak $0.0206 in 2014-02
103
approved generic applications (ANDAs) on record for Metformin Hydrochloride
57 with a product still marketed · first 2002
Not listed
in FDA's current shortage list
Metformin Hydrochloride Tablet, Extended Release: To Be Discontinued

NADAC per unit, monthly

METFORMIN HCL 500 MG TABLET
Show as table
MonthNADAC per unit ($)
2013-110.01795
2014-020.02064
2014-050.01806
2014-080.01740
2014-110.01713
2015-020.01649
2015-050.01675
2015-080.01609
2015-110.01654
2016-020.01657
2016-050.01787
2016-080.01633
2016-110.01602
2017-020.01578
2017-050.01539
2017-080.01526
2017-110.01641
2018-020.01587
2018-050.01547
2018-080.01513
2018-110.01523
2019-020.01553
2019-050.01550
2019-080.01553
2019-110.01551
2020-020.01567
2020-050.01643
2020-080.01641
2020-110.01615
2021-020.01607
2021-050.01702
2021-080.01619
2021-110.01636
2022-020.01596
2022-050.01611
2022-080.01480
2022-110.01774
2023-020.01645
2023-050.01587
2023-080.01608
2023-110.01613
2024-020.01615
2024-050.01263
2024-080.01373
2024-110.01319
2025-020.01345
2025-050.01400
2025-080.01443
2025-110.01460
2026-020.01398
2026-050.01395
2026-080.01413
2026-110.01483

Source: CMS NADAC weekly files, generic rows, monthly median of weekly averages · data as of 2026-11. Figures can change and may contain errors in the source data. Check the original source before relying on them.

Recall records mentioning metformin

openFDA enforcement records, by year reported.

20261
20253
20231
20223
202113
202044
201810
20171
20162
20153

91 records since 2012. A record is one product or lot, not one recall event. Combination products that contain metformin are included.

What these numbers mean

NADAC is what retail pharmacies pay on average to buy the drug, published by CMS. It does not include rebates and is not what you pay at the counter. ANDA counts include all strengths and forms and applications whose products are now discontinued.

Most recent recall records

Class IIOngoing
Metformin product
Reason category: cGMP deviations
FDA recall number D-0657-2026
Class IIOngoing
Metformin product
Reason category: cGMP deviations
FDA recall number D-0328-2025
Class IICompleted
Metformin hydrochloride tablets
Reason category: Sterility / contamination
FDA recall number D-0292-2025
Class IITerminated
Metformin er 500 mg extended-release tablets
Reason category: Sterility / contamination
FDA recall number D-0192-2025
Class IITerminated
Metformin product
Reason category: Impurities (e.g. nitrosamines)
FDA recall number D-0441-2023

Not health advice. GxRadar is for general information only. Nothing here is medical, pharmacy, legal or financial advice. Do not start, stop or change any medicine based on this site. Talk to your pharmacist or prescriber about your own situation.

Articles that mention metformin

32 GxRadar articles cite or discuss this drug.

2020
Case histories · History · 6 min

The 2020 metformin recalls and the NDMA found in extended-release tablets

How FDA testing found a probable carcinogen in some extended-release metformin in 2020, why the common immediate-release tablets were spared, and what 47 federal recall records show.

METFORMIN · NADAC
Price histories · Data story · 5 min

What pharmacies paid for metformin, 2013 to 2026

A generic 500 mg metformin tablet has cost pharmacies about a cent and a half for 13 years. The NADAC record, what 730 tablets cost at that rate, and why the price has stayed so low.

CLASS I RECALL RECORDS BY YEAR
Recall data · Data story · 6 min

The reasons drugs get recalled, counted from FDA's own records

A GxRadar count of 18,076 FDA drug recall records since 2012 shows a handful of failure types, led by sterility, manufacturing lapses, impurities and pills that dissolve out of spec.

PRICE INDEX · 2014 = 100
Price histories · Data story · 5 min

The cheapest pills in GxRadar's 47-drug price basket

Seven of the 47 generics we track cost pharmacies under 2 cents a unit in October 2026, led by amlodipine at 1.02 cents. Which drugs sit at the floor, how long they have been there, and what the ranking does not show.

Case histories · History · 6 min

How a carcinogen in blood pressure pills changed generic drug testing

Since 2018, nitrosamine impurities have produced nearly 500 federal recall records, pushed ranitidine off the US market and led FDA to set daily intake limits for impurities formed from the drug itself.

PRICE INDEX · 2014 = 100
Price histories · Data story · 5 min

What pharmacies pay for a month of common generics

Thirty tablets of each of the 10 most-used generics we track cost pharmacies $35.70 in January 2014 and $8.80 in October 2026. That is acquisition cost, and the rest of the price sits on top of it.