A single IVIG infusion in the United States costs roughly $10,000 on average, and patients needing ongoing treatment can face annual bills exceeding $100,000. The exact price depends on your body weight, the condition being treated, which brand is used, and where you receive the infusion. Without insurance, IVIG is one of the most expensive therapies in medicine.
What a Single Infusion Costs
The average cost per IVIG infusion in the U.S. has been reported at $9,720. That figure includes the drug itself plus administration, but your actual bill could be higher or lower depending on the dose your doctor prescribes and the facility you use. The drug alone accounts for the vast majority of the cost. Nursing time for a typical infusion runs around $475 for about five hours of care, and IV supplies add roughly $25, so the medication is what drives the price.
IVIG products range from about $27 to $42 per gram at list price. Gamunex and Gammagard Liquid sit at the lower end, around $27 per gram, while Privigen and Gammagard S/D cost $41 to $42 per gram. Your total drug cost depends on how many grams you need, which is calculated based on your weight.
How Your Weight Affects the Price
IVIG is dosed by body weight, typically 0.4 to 0.6 grams per kilogram per month for immune deficiency conditions. For a 70 kg (154 lb) adult at the standard 0.4 g/kg dose, that works out to 28 grams per infusion. At $27 per gram, the drug alone would cost about $756. At $42 per gram, it jumps to $1,176. But many conditions require much higher doses.
Autoimmune and neurological conditions like CIDP (chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy) or Guillain-Barré syndrome often call for 2 g/kg, which for the same 70 kg person means 140 grams. At $27 to $42 per gram, the drug cost for one high-dose cycle lands between $3,800 and $5,880, before any facility or administration fees. Some patients also need loading doses spread across multiple consecutive days, pushing a single treatment cycle well above $10,000.
Annual Costs for Ongoing Treatment
Many conditions requiring IVIG are chronic, meaning treatment continues for months or years. The numbers add up fast. Mean annual IVIG costs for CIDP patients in the U.S. were $108,016 in 2014 and rose to $136,892 by 2018. Some CIDP patients receive an average of 4.3 infusions per month, which translates to roughly $41,800 per month.
Patients with primary immune deficiency conditions generally need lower doses but still require infusions every three to four weeks indefinitely. Even at the lower 0.4 g/kg monthly dose, a year of treatment for a 70 kg adult could run $9,000 to $14,000 in drug costs alone, plus thousands more in administration fees. Without insurance, these are entirely out-of-pocket expenses.
Subcutaneous Immunoglobulin as a Lower-Cost Option
Subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIG) delivers the same type of antibody therapy but through a small needle under the skin instead of an IV line. You can administer it yourself at home, which eliminates facility fees and significantly cuts administration costs. A Canadian population study found that self-administered SCIG cost about $5,400 less per patient per year than clinic-based IVIG, primarily because you avoid the nursing hours and clinic overhead that come with each IV infusion.
The drug itself costs a similar amount per gram, so SCIG doesn’t necessarily save money on the medication. The savings come from skipping the infusion center. Not every condition qualifies for SCIG, and the switch requires training from a healthcare provider, but for immune deficiency patients on long-term therapy, it’s worth discussing as a way to reduce total costs.
Where You Get Infused Changes the Price
Hospital outpatient departments typically charge the most because they add facility fees on top of the drug and nursing costs. Independent infusion centers generally charge less, and home infusion services can reduce costs further by eliminating the facility markup. If you’re paying out of pocket, asking your doctor about home infusion or a freestanding infusion center could save thousands per treatment. The drug price stays the same, but the overhead varies dramatically by setting.
Financial Assistance Programs
Several IVIG manufacturers offer patient assistance programs specifically for uninsured or underinsured patients. CSL Behring, which makes Privigen and Hizentra, runs a program that provides free product for up to one year for qualifying patients. Shire (now part of Takeda) offers assistance for Gammagard and HYQVIA if you lack insurance coverage and meet financial guidelines. Grifols has its Connexions Program for uninsured CIDP patients using Gamunex-C.
Beyond manufacturers, several nonprofits help bridge the gap:
- Good Days pays treatment copays for patients who can’t afford life-sustaining therapies.
- Patient Advocate Foundation helps with access to care and financial preservation.
- HealthWell Foundation assists with copays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs for chronic conditions.
- NeedyMeds offers a free drug discount card and maintains a database of assistance programs.
- Partnership for Prescription Assistance connects uninsured patients with programs that provide medications at little or no cost.
- Hill-Burton facilities are hospitals and clinics that agreed to provide free or reduced-cost care to patients who can’t pay.
The GBS/CIDP Foundation International also maintains a list of financial resources, and the PSI ACCESS Program provides pro-bono attorneys who can help navigate insurance denials or coverage disputes. If you’ve been prescribed IVIG and have no insurance, contacting the manufacturer of your specific product is the most direct first step. Many of these programs can be applied for through your prescribing doctor’s office or the specialty pharmacy dispensing your medication.