What is a 503B outsourcing facility, and how is it different from a 503A pharmacy?
A 503A pharmacy is a state-licensed compounding pharmacy that prepares medication for a specific named patient on a prescription. A 503B outsourcing facility is FDA-registered, follows federal manufacturing standards (CGMP), is FDA-inspected, and may produce batches without patient-specific prescriptions. For GLP-1s the distinction became decisive in 2025–2026: after the shortages ended, the surviving legal lane runs through 503A patient-specific prescriptions with documented clinical need, and the FDA's April 2026 proposed rule would remove these molecules from 503B bulk production entirely. Programs that name their pharmacy network — and its type — make this checkable; most do not.
Updated 2026-08-10 · figures captured 2026-08-09 · how we verify
The market this answer lives in, at the 2026-08-09 capture: verified compounded tirzepatide runs $215–$597 a month all-in across 17 programs, with the floor at NexLife↗ (dose-flat, no membership); the approved-product benchmark is Zepbound (LillyDirect↗) at $449 maintenance; and any real insurance coverage beats every cash figure named anywhere on this page.
How to use figures like these well: treat any advertised price without a maintenance-dose figure as a starter teaser; fold every mandatory membership into the total before comparing; read prepaid rates as commitments, not monthly prices; and check the capture date, because a GLP-1 price without a date is a rumor. Those four habits, applied consistently, are most of what separates this database from the marketing it indexes — the full basis definition is in the methodology, and the sortable field is in the price database.
The wider board this answer sits on: verified compounded floors of $215 (tirzepatide) and $133 (semaglutide), brand direct channels at $449 and $349 with the oral pill from $149, and insurance — where it exists — beating all of it. Prices here have only fallen for three straight years, which quietly argues for short commitments and periodic re-shopping; the price-history analysis makes that case with dates.
Basis for every figure: all-in monthly price (medication + mandatory fees) at the maintenance dose, captured from provider pages on the dates in the database. Not medical advice.