Lupron Depot costs roughly $1,900 to $6,800 per injection at wholesale prices, depending on the dose and how long each shot lasts. What you actually pay varies enormously based on your insurance, the medical setting where you receive it, and which formulation your doctor prescribes. Some patients pay a modest copay; others have been billed tens of thousands of dollars for a single shot.
Retail and Wholesale Prices by Dose
Lupron Depot comes in several strengths designed to last different lengths of time. A one-month dose costs less per injection but requires more frequent office visits, while longer-acting formulations cost more upfront but fewer trips to the doctor. Here’s what the drug itself costs before insurance, based on AbbVie’s 2026 wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) price list:
- 1-month dose (7.5 mg, urology): $2,254
- 3-month dose (22.5 mg, urology): $6,761
- 4-month dose (30 mg, urology): $9,014
- 6-month dose (45 mg, urology): $13,522
- 1-month dose (3.75 mg, gynecology): $1,891
- 3-month dose (11.25 mg, gynecology): $5,674
Pediatric formulations, used primarily for central precocious puberty, range from about $2,275 for a one-month kit up to $27,295 for a six-month dose. These prices represent what a hospital or clinic pays to acquire the drug. What appears on your bill can be significantly higher once the provider adds their markup, facility fees, and administration charges.
What Patients Actually Get Billed
The gap between the wholesale price and the number on a patient’s bill can be staggering. KFF Health News documented one prostate cancer patient who was charged $73,812 for two three-month Lupron injections, including lab work and physician charges. The first shot came to $35,414 and the second to $38,398. These figures reflect the reality that hospitals and clinics set their own prices for drugs administered in their facilities, and those prices often bear little relationship to what the drug actually costs.
The price has also climbed dramatically over time. In 2000, the average wholesale price for a three-month shot was $1,245. That same formulation now lists for nearly $6,800 at wholesale, a roughly fivefold increase. For context, a three-month dose of the same drug sells for about $260 in the United Kingdom.
How Insurance Affects Your Cost
Because Lupron is given as an injection in a doctor’s office or clinic, it typically falls under your medical benefit rather than your pharmacy benefit. For people with private insurance, this means it’s usually processed like any other outpatient procedure, with your out-of-pocket cost depending on your plan’s coinsurance rate and whether you’ve met your deductible. A plan with 20% coinsurance on a $6,800 injection still leaves you with a $1,360 bill per shot.
Medicare coverage depends on how the drug is administered. Lupron Depot injections given by a healthcare provider in an office setting are generally covered under Part B as a physician-administered drug. However, self-administered forms of leuprolide acetate are not covered under Medicare Part A or Part B. If your version falls outside Part B coverage, you’d need to check whether your Part D prescription plan covers it instead, which typically involves different copay structures and formulary tiers.
Even with insurance, the combination of the drug’s high list price and facility fees means many patients face bills in the thousands per injection. If you’re on a high-deductible plan and haven’t met your annual deductible, you could be responsible for the full negotiated rate.
Ways to Reduce the Cost
AbbVie, the company that manufactures Lupron, runs a patient assistance program called myAbbVie Assist that provides the drug for free to qualifying patients. Eligibility is based on household size and income. A single person earning $63,840 or less per year qualifies. For a household of two, the threshold is $86,560; for three, $109,280; and for four, $132,000. Patients with limited or no insurance coverage are the primary target, though people with insurance may also qualify if their out-of-pocket costs are high relative to their income.
One important exclusion: if your commercial insurance plan requires you to apply for manufacturer assistance as a condition of coverage (sometimes called an alternate funding program), you’re not eligible for myAbbVie Assist. This is a growing practice among some insurers that effectively shifts costs to the drug manufacturer rather than genuinely helping patients.
Beyond the manufacturer’s program, a few other strategies can lower your cost. Ask your oncologist or gynecologist whether a generic form of leuprolide acetate is available and appropriate for your situation, as generics typically cost less. You can also ask your provider whether they can administer the drug in an office setting rather than a hospital outpatient department, since hospital facility fees often double or triple the total bill. Some specialty pharmacies offer lower acquisition costs that your doctor’s office may be willing to pass along.
Why the Formulation Matters
Choosing between a one-month and a longer-acting formulation isn’t purely a medical decision. The six-month urology dose costs about $13,522 wholesale, while six individual monthly doses would total roughly $13,522 as well (six times $2,254). The math works out similarly, but the hidden variable is the office visit. Each injection requires an appointment, and each appointment generates its own facility fee and administration charge. Fewer visits generally means lower total costs once those fees are factored in.
Your doctor may have clinical reasons for choosing one formulation over another, particularly when starting treatment or adjusting doses. But if cost is a concern and your condition is stable, asking about a longer-acting formulation can be a reasonable conversation to have. The difference between paying for two office visits per year versus twelve adds up quickly, especially at facilities that charge several hundred dollars per visit on top of the drug cost.