GLP-1 Price Index

A documented, reproducible index of GLP-1 program costs, computed from verified and provider-reported pricing in our evidence ledger. Categories are kept separate so clinically or commercially different options are never merged into one misleading number.

Current index value

Median = $187.5. Index value = (current median ÷ baseline median) × 100 = 100. Median is used rather than mean; each eligible program is equally weighted; providers are never weighted by affiliate status, revenue, or traffic. Download: CSV · JSON.

How the index is calculated

Each index tracks one clearly defined category. We take every eligible program’s effective monthly cost — total mandatory payments for the treatment period divided by months supplied — and compute the category median. The baseline-period median is set to 100, and the current index value is the current median divided by the baseline median, times 100. Provider-reported figures are included but flagged; only first-party captures are labeled Verified. Programs with conflicting or missing pricing are excluded, not assigned a favorable default. Full method: price-index methodology.

How to read the index value

The index value is a single number that expresses where current prices sit relative to the baseline period. A value of 100 means the category median matches the baseline exactly. A value of 110 means the median has risen 10 percent since baseline; 90 means it has fallen 10 percent. Because this is the first documented snapshot, the value is 100 by definition, and no movement can be shown until a second snapshot is captured under the same methodology version.

The index deliberately uses the median rather than the average, because a single very cheap or very expensive program would distort an average and misrepresent what a typical patient pays. It also weights every eligible program equally rather than by size, traffic, or any commercial relationship, so a large advertiser cannot pull the index toward its own pricing. Programs with conflicting evidence, undisclosed mandatory fees, or introductory-only pricing are excluded from the median rather than assigned a favorable placeholder, which keeps the number honest even when it means a smaller sample.

Why categories are never merged

There is no single "GLP-1 price" on this site, and that is intentional. Compounded semaglutide, compounded tirzepatide, sublingual ODT, microdose programs, and brand medications occupy different clinical and commercial categories with different cost structures. Averaging a $145 compounded semaglutide program with a $1,086 brand tirzepatide list price would produce a number that describes no real patient's decision. Each category therefore carries its own index, its own baseline, and its own sample, and the site refuses to publish a blended figure that would mislead more than it informs.

Limitations

This first snapshot sets the baseline, so the index reads 100 by definition and no month-over-month change is available yet. Five of six programs are Provider Reported rather than first-party Verified, which lowers confidence; as first-party captures are completed the sample will strengthen. The index covers only compounded semaglutide standard injection at the lowest available plan — microdose, sublingual ODT, tirzepatide, and brand categories are tracked as separate indexes and must never be merged with this one.

Sources

1. Evidence ledger: evidence-ledger.csv
2. Price-index dataset: price-index.json
3. Provider pricing captured from provider sites and major publishers (Forbes Health, U.S. News), July 2026.
4. FDA — compounded GLP-1 status and 2025–2026 shortage-resolution policy. fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding