Prescription medicine
Abatacept Brand names: Orencia
Abatacept (Orencia) is a prescription medicine with an FDA approval on record since 2005. No generic is listed; pharmacies paid $1,469.23 per mL (Orencia 125 mg/mL syringe) in the October 7, 2026 NADAC survey.
- No generic listed
Check it at the source: the abatacept FDA label on DailyMed (effective November 13, 2025, E.R. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.); the BLA 125118 record on Drugs@FDA; every abatacept label on DailyMed.
Highlights of the record
FDA label of November 13, 2025; NDC Directory, Drugs@FDA and Orange Book, October 8, 2026; NADAC October 7, 2026
Used for
From the label: indications and usageORENCIA is a selective T cell costimulation modulator indicated for:
the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Forms and strengths
- 50 mg/.4ml
- 87.5 mg/.7ml
- 125 mg/ml
- 250 mg/15ml
Injection (solution); injection (powder) (lyophilized) for solution.
On the market
- Earliest approval on file
- December 23, 2005 Orencia, Bristol Myers Squibb; Drugs@FDA’s file, where older or withdrawn approvals can be missing
- Generic approvals
- No generic approved
- Labelers listed (NDC)
- 1 of which 0 under generic applications, 1 under brand applications, repackagers included
Supply and safety
- Pharmacy cost (NADAC)
- $1,469.23 per mL Orencia 125 mg/mL syringe
- Shortage (FDA)
- No current entry
- Recalls by its makers (FDA)
- No recall recorded
- FAERS reports
- 137,678 through July 30, 2026
What is abatacept used for?
From the label: indications and usageORENCIA is a selective T cell costimulation modulator indicated for:
the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). (1.1)
the treatment of patients 2 years of age and older with moderately to severely active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA). (1.2)
the treatment of patients 2 years of age and older with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA). […]
Conditions named in the indications of abatacept's FDA labels, with every medicine labeled for each:
FDA pharmacologic class: Selective T Cell Costimulation Modulator.
Source: FDA drug label (ORENCIA), E.R. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C., effective November 13, 2025 (SPL set 0836c6ac-ee37-5640-2fed-a3185a0b16eb), via openFDA; the full label on DailyMed
Is there a generic for abatacept (Orencia)?
No generic abatacept is approved (Drugs@FDA, October 8, 2026).
- 2005 earliest approval on file
Source: Drugs@FDA, FDA NDC Directory and the Orange Book (openFDA bulk files, October 8, 2026)
What do pharmacies pay for abatacept (Orencia)?
In CMS's NADAC survey of October 7, 2026, pharmacies paid $1,469.23 per mL (Orencia 125 mg/mL syringe), up 2% from $1,440.74 on October 8, 2025. The chart's scale runs from the lowest to the highest price shown, not from zero. NADAC is what retail pharmacies paid their wholesalers, per unit, in CMS's monthly survey; what a patient pays depends on insurance and the pharmacy.
- Orencia 125 mg/mL syringe (brand)
| Strength and form | Brand or generic | Pharmacy cost | 30 tablets, or one pen or vial | 12-month change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orencia 125 mg/mL syringe | Brand | $1,469.23 per mL | n/a | +2% |
| Orencia clickject 125 mg/mL | Brand | $1,471.09 per mL | n/a | +2% |
Source: CMS National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) survey, October 7, 2026: what retail pharmacies paid per unit; not a counter price
What does the abatacept label say about other medicines?
The abatacept label names 3 other medicines in its interaction, contraindication or warning sections. The labels of 12 other medicines name abatacept. The sentences are the labels' own; a label lists what its studies and reports found, not every interaction.
| Medicine named | Section | What the label says |
|---|---|---|
| Acyclovir | warnings and precautions | Three of the 4 patients discontinued acyclovir prophylaxis at day 30 post-transplant. |
| Anakinra | drug interactions | There is insufficient experience to assess the safety and efficacy of ORENCIA administered concurrently with other biologic RA therapy, such as anakinra, or other biologic PsA therapy, and JAK inhibitors and therefore such use is not recommended. [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ]. |
| Nicotine | drug interactions | When receiving intravenous ORENCIA, patients that require blood glucose monitoring should be advised to consider methods that do not react with maltose, such as those based on glucose dehydrogenase nicotine adenine dinucleotide (GDH-NAD), glucose oxidase, or glucose hexokinase test methods. |
Other labels that name abatacept
Source: FDA drug label (ORENCIA), E.R. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C., effective November 13, 2025 (SPL set 0836c6ac-ee37-5640-2fed-a3185a0b16eb), via openFDA; the full label on DailyMed
What do FAERS reports show for abatacept?
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System holds 137,678 reports that list abatacept among the medicines taken, through July 30, 2026, each a report of something that happened, not proof the medicine caused it; 9,239 are coded as a death and 25,417 as a hospital stay. Counts follow how widely a medicine is used and watched, and they are not a measure of how risky it is.
Reports received each year
The most reported reactions
Source: FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) via openFDA, reports through July 30, 2026
What else is labeled for the same conditions as abatacept?
8 other medicines are given the same way (subcutaneous) and in the same FDA class as abatacept or labeled mainly for the same use (rheumatoid arthritis), the same class first. Rheumatoid arthritis lists all 46 medicines labeled for it, by any route. They are listed as records, not as substitutes: whether one can replace another is a prescriber's decision.
| Medicine | Shared indication | Generic labelers (subcutaneous) | Pharmacy cost | Shortage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adalimumab | Rheumatoid arthritis | none listed | $1,587.82 per mL 40 mg/0.4 mL | No current entry |
| Methotrexate | Rheumatoid arthritis | none listed | $289.37 per mL 25 mg/0.5 mL autoinj | In shortage |
| Tocilizumab | Rheumatoid arthritis | none listed | $821.00 per mL 162 mg/0.9 mL autoinjct | No current entry |
| Etanercept | Rheumatoid arthritis | none listed | $2,084.14 per mL 25 mg/0.5 mL syringe | No current entry |
| Sarilumab | Rheumatoid arthritis | none listed | $2,075.30 per mL 200 mg/1.14 mL pen injection | No current entry |
| Certolizumab | Rheumatoid arthritis | none listed | $6,094.02 per syringe 2x200 mg/mL syringe kit | No current entry |
| Golimumab | Rheumatoid arthritis | none listed | $12,890.32 per mL 50 mg/0.5 mL pen injec | No current entry |
| Adalimumab-aacf | Rheumatoid arthritis | none listed | n/a | No current entry |
Source: FDA drug labels (indications), NDC Directory, NADAC of October 7, 2026, FDA shortages (October 8, 2026)
How does abatacept compare with medicines for the same use?
2 side-by-side pages set abatacept beside a medicine whose label shares a use: approvals, generics, pharmacy cost, warnings and supply.
What next?
- Alternatives to abatacept
- 8 medicines for the same use
- Abatacept side effects
- the label's list beside FAERS reports
- Check an interaction
- what two or more labels say about each other