Actemra

Generic name: tocilizumab

Used for: Rheumatoid arthritis · Giant cell arteritis (inflamed blood vessels) · Juvenile arthritis · Lung disease from systemic sclerosis (SSc-ILD) · Severe cytokine release syndrome after CAR T-cell therapy · COVID-19 in the hospital needing oxygen or a ventilator · 5 more

How do you pay?

How to pay the least

Ask for the cash price

Actemra

Actemra is a biologic. Biologics don’t have generics, but some have biosimilars or an unbranded version from the same maker. Ask your pharmacist or prescriber whether one is sold.

  1. Ask your pharmacy for Actemra’s cash price, and one or two other pharmacies too.
  2. Actemra’s savings card works only with insurance from a job or one you bought.

Free from the maker, if you qualify Genentech Patient Foundation. Do not have insurance coverage for their Genentech medicine and their household makes less than $150,000 per year Or call (888) 941-3331.

See if you qualify 

Compare every option

Question
Brand nameActemra
Authorized generictocilizumab
Regular generictocilizumab
What you’d pay
Cash priceAsk the pharmacy
Not soldThere isn’t one
Not soldAsk the pharmacy
Same as Actemra?
The original
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–

Brand nameThe maker’s card

ACTEMRA Co-pay Program

Savings card from Genentech

No insuranceNeeds insuranceNo cash price listed.
Insurance · as little as $0 a treatment

The card takes up to $15,000 a year off your co-pay.

Sign up on actemra.com 

Or call 1-866-422-2377.

In the maker’s words

“With the ACTEMRA Co-pay Program, eligible patients with commercial insurance could pay as little as $0 per treatment for ACTEMRA.”

From the maker’s offer on actemra.com, checked November 2, 2026. Co-pay cards can’t be used with Medicare (including Medicare Advantage), Medicaid, TRICARE or VA.

Maker’s card or discount card?

A discount card like GoodRx lowers the pharmacy’s cash price, but for a brand-name drug that price often stays high. Compare it with the maker’s card above. You can usually use one or the other on a fill, not both.

Authorized genericNot sold

There isn’t one. An authorized generic is Actemra itself, from the same company, sold without the brand name, and usually for less. For now Actemra is the only choice; its maker’s savings card can lower what you pay.

See the brand name →

Regular genericNot sold

Actemra is a biologic. Biologics don’t have generics, but some have biosimilars or an unbranded version from the same maker. Ask your pharmacist or prescriber whether one is sold. Generics usually come once the brand’s patents and exclusivity end. Until then, the maker’s savings card is the way to pay less.

See the brand name →

What it’s used for

What the FDA label says

ACTEMRA® (tocilizumab) is an interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor antagonist indicated for treatment of:

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

  • Adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to one or more Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DMARDs).

Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA)

  • Adult patients with giant cell arteritis.

Systemic Sclerosis-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease (SSc-ILD)

  • Slowing the rate of decline in pulmonary function in adult patients with systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD)

Polyarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (PJIA)

  • Patients 2 years of age and older with active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (SJIA)

  • Patients 2 years of age and older with active systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS)

  • Adults and pediatric patients 2 years of age and older with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell-induced severe or life-threatening cytokine release syndrome.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

  • Hospitalized adult and pediatric patients aged 2 years and older with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who are receiving systemic corticosteroids and require supplemental oxygen, non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

Source: the FDA label for Actemra (Genentech, Inc.), December 16, 2025. Full label on DailyMed 

Good to know

Prices checked November 2, 2026. Prices change: confirm with the pharmacy before you fill. drugalt.com/drug/actemra/