Salagen vs. its authorized generic and generics

How to pay the least

From

$13.70 for 30 tablets delivered ($8.45 plus $5.25 shipping)

Generic pilocarpine from Cost Plus Drugs, by mail. Pick the strength on your label above for its own price.

Make a free account on costplusdrugs.com. Ask your prescriber to send the prescription there, or Cost Plus Drugs can transfer it.Open Cost Plus Drugs
Order generic pilocarpine. It comes by mail.

Need it today? From $16.28 for 30 tablets with the free Team Cuban Card, at pharmacies that take it. Get the free card and show it there.

See the price and get the card

With a membership From $9.50 for 30 tablets from Amazon Pharmacy, by mail ($139 a year).

Open Amazon Pharmacy

A regular generic has the same active ingredient as Salagen, and the FDA requires it to work the same way.

Compare every option

Brand nameSalagen

Authorized genericpilocarpine

Regular genericpilocarpine

What you’d pay

Cash priceAsk the pharmacyUsually the highest price

Cash priceAsk the pharmacyUsually among the lowest

From$13.70for 30 tablets at Cost Plus Drugs, with shipping

Same as Salagen?

The original

Same medicine

Same active ingredientFillers and dyes can differ

Brand nameNo maker’s card

We didn’t find a savings card or cash price from Salagen’s maker. Ask the pharmacy for Salagen’s cash price. With insurance, ask what your plan charges.

Authorized genericThe NDC to ask for

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

pilocarpine

Sold by

Actavis Pharma

Your strength

NDC to ask for

5 mgtablet
- 0228-2801-1111-digit: 00228-2801-11100 tablets per bottle
7.5 mgtablet
- 0228-2837-1111-digit: 00228-2837-11100 tablets per bottle

Source: FDA, updated October 30, 2026

What to say at the pharmacy

“Before you fill my Salagen, can you tell me what I’d pay for the brand, for the authorized generic from Actavis Pharma, and for a regular generic?”

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).

5 mg tablet

Same active and inactive ingredients as Salagen.

Authorized generic package label from Actavis Pharma — Authorized genericActavis Pharma

See the ingredients

Active: pilocarpine hydrochloride 5 mg

Inactive, on both labels:

Carnauba wax
Hypromellose
Microcrystalline cellulose
Polyethylene glycol
Stearic acid
Titanium dioxide

7.5 mg tablet

Same active and inactive ingredients as Salagen.

See the ingredients

Active: pilocarpine hydrochloride 7.5 mg

Inactive, on both labels:

Carnauba wax
FD&C Blue No. 2--aluminum lake
Hypromellose
Microcrystalline cellulose
Polyethylene glycol
Stearic acid
Titanium dioxide

Regular genericWhere to buy it

Pharmacies’ own cash prices for generic pilocarpine, lowest first.

Pick up in storeDelivered

Delivered: Cost Plus Drugs from $8.45for 30 tablets5 mg $8.45 · 7.5 mg $13.73Plus $5.25 shipping
Delivered: Amazon Pharmacy from $9.50for 30 tablets5 mg $9.50 · 7.5 mg $13.70Prime members only · $139 a year · Free delivery · Prime price: limits on some medicines if you're over 65 or have Medicare, Medicaid or TRICARE
Pick up in store: Costco $32.99for 90 tablets5 mgMembers only · $65 a yearFind the nearest store
Delivered: Costco $32.99for 90 tablets5 mgMembers only · $65 a year · Plus shipping
Delivered: Rx Outreach from $15for 30 tablets5 mg: $15 for 30 tablets · each additional 30 tablets: $57.5 mg: $25 for 30 tablets · each additional 30 tablets: $10Free delivery
Pick up in store: Team Cuban Card from $16.28for 30 tablets5 mg $16.28 · 7.5 mg $23.01Free card · Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway, Meijer and many local pharmaciesFind a pharmacy that takes it
Pick up in store: Sam's Club See its pricePlus members only · $120 a yearFind the nearest store

From each pharmacy’s own site, read November 2, 2026. Confirm the price before you fill.

About these prices

Prices change, can differ by store and state, and may depend on the strength and how many you take. With insurance, ask what your plan charges; it can be less.

Regular genericWho makes it

4 companies sell a generic of Salagen that the FDA rates a substitute. A pharmacy fills whichever one it stocks. To get a certain maker, ask for it by name; most pharmacies can order it in a day or two.

Amici Pharma5 mg

Made by Innogenix

How it looks, what’s in it, NDCs

5 mg White, round, 6 mm, marked “I / 116”

Package NDC
Bottle of 100 69292-265-01

Inactive ingredients: microcrystalline cellulose, stearic acid, hypromellose, polydextrose, polyethylene glycol, titanium dioxide, triacetin
FDA label
Amneal Pharmaceuticals5 mg

Made by Impax Laboratories

How it looks, what’s in it, NDCs

5 mg White to off-white, round, 6 mm, marked “G / 592”

Package NDC
Bottle of 100 60219-5922-1

Inactive ingredients: cellulose, microcrystalline, silicon dioxide, stearic acid, hypromelloses, polydextrose, titanium dioxide, triacetin, polyethylene glycol
FDA label
Aurobindo PharmaAll 2 strengths

Has a dye: FD&C Blue No. 2 · Made by Quagen Pharmaceuticals

How it looks, what’s in it, NDCs

5 mg Off White to White, round, 6 mm, marked “PIL / 5”

Package NDC
Bottle of 100 59651-224-01

7.5 mg Light Blue to Blue, round, 7 mm, marked “PIL / 7 / 5”

Package NDC
Bottle of 100 59651-225-01

Inactive ingredients: hypromellose 2910 (6 mpa.s), microcrystalline cellulose 102, polyethylene glycol 400, stearic acid, titanium dioxide, FD&C Blue No. 2
FDA label
LannettAll 2 strengths

Has a dye: FD&C Blue No. 2

Product page on lannett.com

How it looks, what’s in it, NDCs

5 mg White, round, 6 mm, marked “LAN / 1313”

Package NDC
Bottle of 100 0527-1313-01

7.5 mg Blue, round, 6 mm, marked “LCI / 1407”

Package NDC
Bottle of 100 0527-1407-01

Inactive ingredients: cellulose, microcrystalline, stearic acid, polyvinyl alcohol, titanium dioxide, polyethylene glycol, talc, FD&C Blue No. 2, indigotindisulfonate sodium, aluminum oxide
FDA label

Package	NDC
Bottle of 100	69292-265-01

Package	NDC
Bottle of 100	60219-5922-1

Package	NDC
Bottle of 100	59651-224-01

Package	NDC
Bottle of 100	59651-225-01

Package	NDC
Bottle of 100	0527-1313-01

Package	NDC
Bottle of 100	0527-1407-01

Who sells it: FDA and Medicaid records, updated weekly. Each maker’s page, card and program is from its own site.

What it’s used for

What the FDA label says

SALAGEN® Tablets are indicated for 1) the treatment of symptoms of dry mouth from salivary gland hypofunction caused by radiotherapy for cancer of the head and neck; and 2) the treatment of symptoms of dry mouth in patients with Sjogren's Syndrome.

Source: the FDA label for Salagen (Advanz Pharma (US) Corp.), December 5, 2024. Full label on DailyMed

Good to know

It may look different from Salagen (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/salagen/