Nucynta ER vs. its authorized generic and generics

How to pay the least

Ask for the cash price

Authorized generic

Nucynta ER itself, without the brand name. It usually costs less than Nucynta ER.

Ask your pharmacy for the cash price of Nucynta ER’s authorized generic. Its NDC is on this page; the pharmacy may need to order it.See its NDC
Ask for Nucynta ER’s cash price too, and pick the lower one.

Sold only in a different form, strength or formula. Switching to one would need a new prescription, so ask your prescriber whether it could work for you.

Compare every option

Brand nameNucynta ER

Authorized generictapentadol

Regular generictapentadol

What you’d pay

Cash priceAsk the pharmacyUsually the highest price

Cash priceAsk the pharmacyOften less than Nucynta ER

Other forms onlyAsk your doctor

Same as Nucynta ER?

The original

Same medicine

–

Brand nameThe maker’s card

Nucynta ER’s maker has a savings card that lowers what you pay at the pharmacy.

NUCYNTA ER/NUCYNTA Savings Card

Savings card from Collegium Pharmaceutical

No insuranceNeeds insuranceNo cash price listed.

Insurance · as little as $35 a prescription

In the maker’s words

“Most eligible commercially insured patients may pay as little as $35 [up to the maximum benefit specified on the back of the card] for NUCYNTA ER or NUCYNTA tablets.”

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

Authorized genericThe NDC to ask for

The same medicine as Nucynta ER, without the brand name. Give the pharmacy its NDC to get it.

tapentadol

Sold by

Hikma PharmaceuticalsMade by Collegium Pharmaceutical, the company behind Nucynta ER

Your strength

NDC to ask for

50 mgextended-release tablet
- 0054-0936-2111-digit: 00054-0936-2160 tablets per bottle
100 mgextended-release tablet
- 0054-0937-2111-digit: 00054-0937-2160 tablets per bottle
150 mgextended-release tablet
- 0054-0938-2111-digit: 00054-0938-2160 tablets per bottle
200 mgextended-release tablet
- 0054-0939-2111-digit: 00054-0939-2160 tablets per bottle
250 mgextended-release tablet
- 0054-0940-2111-digit: 00054-0940-2160 tablets per bottle

Source: FDA, updated October 30, 2026

What to say at the pharmacy

“Before you fill my Nucynta ER, can you tell me what I’d pay for the brand, for the authorized generic from Hikma Pharmaceuticals?”

Paying cash? Ask for each one’s cash price. With insurance, ask what your plan charges for each.

Brand and authorized generic labels

Official labels and ingredient lists from DailyMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine).

50 mg extended-release tablet

Same active and inactive ingredients as Nucynta ER.

Nucynta ER package label — BrandNucynta ER

Authorized generic package label from Hikma Pharmaceuticals — Authorized genericHikma Pharmaceuticals

See the ingredients

Active: tapentadol hydrochloride 50 mg

Inactive, on both labels:

Alpha-tocopherol
Ferrosoferric oxide
Hypromellose
Polyethylene glycol
Polyvinyl alcohol
Propylene glycol
Shellac
Talc
Titanium dioxide

100 mg extended-release tablet

Same active and inactive ingredients as Nucynta ER.

See the ingredients

Active: tapentadol hydrochloride 100 mg

Inactive, on both labels:

Alpha-tocopherol
Aluminum oxide
FD&C Blue No. 2
Ferrosoferric oxide
Hypromellose
Polyethylene glycol
Polyvinyl alcohol
Propylene glycol
Shellac
Talc
Titanium dioxide

150 mg extended-release tablet

Same active and inactive ingredients as Nucynta ER.

See the ingredients

Active: tapentadol hydrochloride 150 mg

Inactive, on both labels:

Alpha-tocopherol
Aluminum oxide
FD&C Blue No. 2
Ferric oxide yellow
Ferrosoferric oxide
Hypromellose
Polyethylene glycol
Polyvinyl alcohol
Propylene glycol
Shellac
Talc
Titanium dioxide

200 mg extended-release tablet

Same active and inactive ingredients as Nucynta ER.

See the ingredients

Active: tapentadol hydrochloride 200 mg

Inactive, on both labels:

Alpha-tocopherol
Aluminum oxide
FD&C Blue No. 2
Ferrosoferric oxide
Hypromellose
Polyethylene glycol
Polyvinyl alcohol
Propylene glycol
Shellac
Talc
Titanium dioxide

250 mg extended-release tablet

Same active and inactive ingredients as Nucynta ER.

See the ingredients

Active: tapentadol hydrochloride 250 mg

Inactive, on both labels:

Alpha-tocopherol
Aluminum oxide
FD&C Blue No. 2
Ferrosoferric oxide
Hypromellose
Polyethylene glycol
Polyvinyl alcohol
Propylene glycol
Shellac
Talc
Titanium dioxide

Regular genericNot sold

Sold only in a different form, strength or formula. Switching to one would need a new prescription, so ask your prescriber whether it could work for you. Generics usually come once the brand’s patents and exclusivity end. Until then, the authorized generic is the lower-cost way to get Nucynta ER.

See the authorized generic →

What it’s used for

What the FDA label says

NUCYNTA ER is an opioid agonist indicated for the management of:

severe and persistent pain in adults that requires an opioid analgesic and that cannot be adequately treated with alternative options, including immediate-release opioids.
severe and persistent neuropathic pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) in adults that requires opioid analgesic and that cannot be adequately treated with alternative options, including immediate-release opioids.

Limitations of Use

Because of the risks of addiction, abuse, misuse, overdose, and death, which can occur at any dosage or duration and persist over the course of therapy, reserve opioid analgesics, including NUCYNTA ER, for use in patients for whom alternative treatment options are ineffective, not tolerated, or would be otherwise inadequate to provide sufficient management of pain.
NUCYNTA ER is not indicated as an as-needed (prn) analgesic.

Source: the FDA label for Nucynta ER (Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc.), December 30, 2025. Full label on DailyMed

Good to know

It may look different from Nucynta ER (color, shape, or markings). That’s normal for an authorized generic.
If your prescription says “dispense as written,” the pharmacy needs your prescriber’s OK to give you the authorized generic.
Cash prices can differ a lot from one pharmacy to the next, so it can pay to ask two. With insurance, what you pay depends on your plan.
If your pharmacy doesn’t stock it, they can often order it within a day or two.
Don’t stop or change a medicine without talking to your pharmacist or prescriber.

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