Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC) Increase Report Data – Cumulative
The overall median cumulative WAC percent increase peaked at 39.9% in Q2 2025, setting a new high for all quarters and price categories since reporting to HCAI started in 2019.
HCAI collects and publishes information on prescription drugs when a Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC) increase exceeds two thresholds – the WAC (after the increase) is greater than $40 for a course of therapy, and the WAC increase results in a greater than 16% cumulative increase inclusive of all WAC increases in the current calendar year and the two previous calendar years.
The visualizations below include submitted WAC increase data from Q1 2019 through Q4 2025. The visualizations display data that shows Median Cumulative WAC Percent Increase for the number of reports received in each quarter. The visualizations allow you to filter through the data by WAC Price Category and Drug Source Type.
- Learn more about the Prescription Drug Cost Transparency Program
- View other Prescription Drug Cost Transparency Public Reports
Key Findings
Median Percent Increase – Quarterly (2019 – 2025)
- In Q2 2025, prescription drugs with a WAC = $250 to $1,000 recorded its highest median cumulative WAC percent increase (63.3%) since reporting to HCAI began in 2019.
- Although this price category has seen the least fluctuation, Q2 2025 was also the highest reported median increase for this price category since reporting began.
- The overall median cumulative WAC percent increase peaked at 39.9% in Q2 2025, setting a new high for all quarters and price categories since reporting to HCAI started in 2019.
- In Q1 2025, Non-Innovator Multiple Source Drugs received its highest number of WAC increase reports (156 reports), since reporting to HCAI began in 2019.
- Single source drugs experienced their second lowest median cumulative WAC percent increase (20.0%) in Q1 2025 since reporting to HCAI began in 2019.
Note: The size of each dot represents the number of reports. The exact number of reports can be viewed by hovering over a dot to display its tooltip.
CTRx Term Definitions
Wholesale Acquisition Cost
Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC) is defined in the U.S. Code as “…the manufacturer’s list price for [a] drug or biological to wholesalers or direct purchasers in the United States, not including prompt pay or other discounts, rebates or reductions in price…”
National Drug Code (NDC)
The pharmaceuticals industry assigns a unique three-segment number, called the NDC, to each drug product manufactured and sold. NDCs must be provided to the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and are used for ordering, billing, inventory management, and recalls.
HCAI requires that relevant reporting uses the 11-digit format of the NDC. The three-segments of the format can be broken into the following:
The labeler code, also known as the manufacturer code, identifies who manufactures, repacks, or distributes a given drug product.
The product code identifies the drug, its strength, dosage form, and formulation specific to the firm that manufactures the given drug product.
The packaging code typically identifies the number of product units in the given product (package size), but also may indicate the type of packaging used.
How HCAI Created This Product
Prescription Drug WAC Increase data for 2025 from the Cost Transparency Prescription Drug Program (CTRx).
Note: Reported increases that do not meet the statutory requirements for reporting and prescription drugs that do not meet the definition for reporting under the program regulations and Section 321(g) of Title 21 of the United States Code were not included in the visualizations. Reports not meeting statutory requirements were: 53 of 1,416 (3.7%) reports in 2019; 37 of 1,252 (2.9%) reports in 2020; 48 of 1,054 (4.6%) reports in 2021; 66 of 1,286 (5.1%) reports in 2022; 39 of 1,553 (2.5%) reports in 2023; 72 of 1,636 (4.4%) reports in 2024; and 49 out of 1343 (3.7%) reports in 2025. In addition, approximately 57.5% of reports from 2019 through 2025 did not include any reason(s) for the reported WAC increases due to the information not already being in the public domain.
Resources
Note:
- The 3-year median percent increase is based on submitted WAC increase data. The dataset is subject to reporting.
- The dataset includes only complete reports submitted by manufacturers for WAC increases made in Q1 2019 through Q4 2025, not including reports that do not meet the specified minimum thresholds for reporting.
- Data from reports submitted after April 17, 2026, is not represented in the visualizations.
Additional Information
Topic: Cost Transparency
Source Link: Cost Transparency – Prescription Drug (Rx) Costs
Citation: HCAI – Prescription Drug Cost Transparency, Cumulative 2019 – 2025
Temporal Coverage: 2019 – 2025
Spatial/Geographic Coverage: Statewide
Frequency: Annually