Which Country Is Darzalex (Daratumumab) Cheapest In? — 2026 Guide

Why does the price differ so much between countries?

Darzalex (daratumumab) is a human anti-CD38 IgG1κ monoclonal antibody, developed by Janssen (part of Johnson & Johnson), approved for multiple myeloma and used in combination regimens with other anti-myeloma agents. It is supplied as a concentrate for intravenous infusion, with a subcutaneous formulation co-formulated with hyaluronidase (Darzalex Faspro) also available in many markets. Because both presentations are administered in a hospital or specialist infusion setting rather than dispensed at a retail pharmacy counter, Darzalex moves through institutional procurement channels — hospital tenders and negotiated framework contracts — rather than the community pharmacy price lists used for oral medicines, and that channel is what drives most of the cross-country variation in published prices.

Within its class, Darzalex competes with other agents used in multiply-relapsed or newly diagnosed myeloma regimens, and payers increasingly evaluate it as part of a combination protocol rather than in isolation, which changes how national bodies weigh its cost-effectiveness against alternative backbone regimens. In Türkiye, TİTCK applies external reference pricing to biologics like Darzalex just as it does to oral oncology products: the published price tracks the lowest ex-factory price found across a defined basket of EU reference countries, converted using the fixed "pharmaceutical euro" (Dönemsel Avro Değeri) rather than the live market rate, as published on the TİTCK price list and gazetted in the Resmî Gazete.

Germany evaluates Darzalex under its AMNOG early-benefit-assessment framework, with free pricing permitted for the first months after launch followed by a negotiated price that is backdated to month seven. NICE in England applies its cost-per-QALY threshold, raised from the long-standing £20,000–£30,000 range to £25,000–£35,000, announced 1 December 2025 and effective from April 2026 (see NICE). The United States has no equivalent government reference mechanism: list prices are set largely freely by the manufacturer and negotiated privately with payers and pharmacy benefit managers, which is part of why the RAND Corporation's 2022 international price comparison, published 1 February 2024, found gross US list prices averaging 278% of prices in 33 other high-income countries across all drugs.

Because Darzalex is hospital-administered, most institutions never pay the published reference price: they procure through tenders and confidential discount agreements that are not disclosed publicly, so the gap between list price and actual acquisition cost can be substantial and varies hospital by hospital. Every published comparison, including this one, should therefore be read as a comparison of list prices rather than what any hospital or patient actually pays. For the underlying mechanics of Türkiye's published prices, see our explainer on why medicines cost less in Türkiye.

How is the price set in each country?

The table below compares pricing systems, not prices. Each country publishes — or does not publish — its own official list, and that published list is the only figure worth relying on. Follow the link in the last column and read the current entry yourself.

How can I obtain a medicine legally from a lower-price market?

There is a lawful route in most countries, and it starts in the same place everywhere: a valid prescription in your own name, issued by the physician treating you. What differs is the import permit. The procedures below are stated only where they could be verified at the national authority.

United Arab Emirates. MOHAP operates a permit to import medicines for personal use through its Electronic Drug Establishment service. The permit is free and is issued within 3 working days. You log in with a MOHAP account or UAE Pass.

Saudi Arabia. Applications run through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System at cds.sfda.gov.sa, under a guideline published on 14 August 2025. Read the current SFDA regulations page before you travel — the requirements are revised periodically.

Qatar. For non-controlled medicines there is no pre-approval: you may carry up to a 60-day supply through the Green Channel, in the original packaging, with a copy of the prescription and a signed, stamped letter from your doctor. For controlled medicines you need advance approval and must use the Red Channel; supporting documents must be no older than 6 months and in Arabic or English.

Kuwait and Azerbaijan. Confirm the current procedure directly with the national authority before shipping or travelling — Kuwait Ministry of Health and Azerbaijan Tariff Council. We do not publish a step list for these two countries because the procedure could not be verified at source.

1. United Arab Emirates — obtain a prescription in the applicant's own name, issued within the last 3 months.
2. Obtain a medical report from the treating facility, authenticated by the health authority and issued within the last year.
3. Prepare an Emirates ID or passport copy for the applicant.
4. Log in to the MOHAP service with a MOHAP account or UAE Pass and submit the personal-import application.
5. Keep the quantity within the limit: no more than a 1-month supply for controlled medicines, and no more than a 3-month supply for non-controlled medicines.
6. Wait for the decision — the service is free and normally issued within 3 working days.
7. Contact MOHAP on 800 111 11 or at import.export@mohap.gov.ae if the application stalls.

What is named patient supply?

Named patient supply is the international concept behind almost every lawful cross-border medicine route. The clearest codified example is the United Kingdom's MHRA Guidance Note 14, built on Regulation 167 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.

Four conditions define it: the order must be unsolicited; the product must be specified by the prescriber; the prescriber must be directly responsible for the patient; and there must be a genuine special clinical need that no authorised product meets.

The honesty point matters here: the European Court has held that "financial considerations cannot, in themselves" establish a special clinical need. A lower price in another country is not, by itself, a lawful basis for a named-patient import. The lawful bases are clinical.

Is the Darzalex I'm being offered genuine?

On 3 July 2026, the World Health Organization issued Medical Product Alert N°3/2026 concerning falsified Darzalex detected in the Maldives and Mexico between May and June 2026. The falsified stock bore lot numbers MYS7381 and STV1K01, both confirmed by Janssen as invalid batch numbers that the company never issued. Vials from the STV1K01 lot showed visible particulate matter on inspection — a physical sign of substandard or tampered product that should never be infused.

Because Darzalex is a single-dose concentrate for infusion (or a subcutaneous co-formulation) administered under direct clinical supervision, verification depends on hospital pharmacy staff checking the outer carton, the vial label, the batch number and the visual appearance of the solution before it is ever drawn up — a falsified vial that reaches the infusion chair has usually already passed several points where it could have been caught.

• Reject any carton or vial bearing lot number MYS7381 or STV1K01 — Janssen has confirmed both are falsified batch numbers it never issued, per WHO Medical Product Alert N°3/2026.
• Before infusion, visually inspect the reconstituted or undiluted solution for particulate matter or discolouration; the STV1K01 falsified lot showed visible particulate matter in the vial.
• Scan the carton's GS1 DataMatrix and confirm it decodes to AI 01 (GTIN), AI 21 (serial number), AI 17 (expiry) and AI 10 (batch) matching the vial label exactly.
• If sourced in Türkiye, verify the karekod is registered on the national İlaç Takip Sistemi (İTS) track-and-trace system at its.saglik.gov.tr before administration.
• Ask for a continuous 2–8°C temperature log covering the actual shipment you are receiving, not a generic cold-chain certificate — Darzalex must never be frozen or shaken and must be protected from light.
• Confirm the pharmacy or infusion unit has pre-notified staff of Darzalex's known interference with indirect antiglobulin (Coombs) testing, since this is a clinical marker of a genuine, correctly labelled product being handled by a licensed facility.
• Cross-check any batch you are uncertain about against our WHO falsified medicine alerts tracker and review our guide to checking that a medicine is genuine before the dose is administered.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Resmî Gazete — Beşeri Tıbbi Ürünlerin Fiyatlandırılmasına Dair Karar No. 11031 — retrieved: 2026-07-28
• TİTCK — published medicine price list — retrieved: 2026-07-28
• MOHAP (UAE) — import medicine for personal use — retrieved: 2026-07-28
• SFDA (Saudi Arabia) — regulations — retrieved: 2026-07-28
• SFDA Controlled Drugs System — retrieved: 2026-07-28
• Qatar MOPH — drug prices — retrieved: 2026-07-28
• Kuwait Ministry of Health — retrieved: 2026-07-28
• Azerbaijan Tariff Council (Tarif Şurası) — retrieved: 2026-07-28
• NICE (United Kingdom) — retrieved: 2026-07-28
• G-BA (Germany) — AMNOG benefit assessment — retrieved: 2026-07-28
• RAND — International prescription drug price comparisons (published 1 Feb 2024) — retrieved: 2026-07-28
• Frontiers in Pharmacology — European hospital price transparency study (9 Mar 2026) — retrieved: 2026-07-28
• MHRA Guidance Note 14 — supply of unlicensed medicinal products — retrieved: 2026-07-28

Country availability pages for this medicine

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