Brand-name prescription

Keytruda

pembrolizumab

Compare your options

Keytruda is given by a doctor or nurse and billed by the clinic, not a pharmacy. Your care team and your insurance decide which product you get, so ask them what you’d pay.

Compare	KeytrudaBrand name	Authorized genericWithout the Keytruda name	Regular genericpembrolizumab
What pharmacies pay	Price not listed	Not sold	Not sold
Same as Keytruda?	The original	–	–
Ways to save	Maker’s cardas little as $25 a dosewith commercial insurance	–	–
With insurance	Your plan’s brand co-pay	–	–

No authorized generic: There isn’t one.

No regular generic: Keytruda 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.

Co-pay cards can’t be used with Medicare (including Medicare Advantage), Medicaid, TRICARE or VA.

The maker’s savings card

Rx Maker’s savings card Merck

Merck Co-pay Assistance Program (The Merck Access Program)

With commercial insurance

as little as $25 a dose

No insurance

This card needs commercial insurance. The maker doesn’t list a cash price on this page.

The card pays up to $25,000 a year.

Get it on merckaccessprogram-keytruda.com

In the maker’s words

“Once enrolled, eligible, privately insured patients pay the first $25 of their co-pay per administration…”

From the maker’s offer on merckaccessprogram-keytruda.com, checked September 25, 2026. What you pay depends on your plan. Co-pay cards can’t be used with Medicare (including Medicare Advantage), Medicaid, TRICARE or VA.

Good to know

There’s no authorized generic of Keytruda.
“Commercial insurance” means a plan from a job, from the marketplace, or one you buy yourself. A retiree plan that’s part of Medicare counts as Medicare. Co-pay cards can’t be used with Medicare (including Medicare Advantage), Medicaid, TRICARE or VA.
Most cards need a sign-up on the maker’s site, and many work only if your plan covers the drug. Then give the card’s details to the clinic’s billing office.
Don’t stop or change a medicine without talking to your pharmacist or prescriber.