Quick answers
- What is Fosamax?
- Fosamax is a brand name of Alendronate sodium, a prescription medicine. The FDA NDC Directory lists 1 Fosamax product in 1 strength and form.
- Who makes Fosamax?
- Organon holds the FDA application for Fosamax (NDA020560, approved September 29, 1995).
- Is there a generic or store brand of Fosamax?
- Yes. The FDA NDC Directory lists 16 other products with the same active ingredients, strength and form as a Fosamax product, 16 of them generic. Ask your pharmacist whether one is right for you.
- What do pharmacies pay for Fosamax?
- CMS lists a National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) for 1 Fosamax strength and form (see the table below). That is what pharmacies pay to buy it, not what you pay: your price depends on your insurance and your pharmacy.
- Has Fosamax been recalled?
- No recall linked to Fosamax products (by their NDC code or label) appears in the FDA enforcement reports we use.
What Fosamax is
Each Fosamax product as listed in the FDA NDC Directory, by active ingredient, strength and form, with its official label. “Same medicine, other names” counts the other products with exactly the same active ingredients, strength and form (generic versions, store brands and other brands); inactive ingredients can differ.
Alendronate sodium · prescription medicine
| Strength and form | Product names | Same medicine, other names | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| alendronate sodium 70 mg tablet (oral) | Fosamax | 16 products, 13 companies | DailyMed |
Its page lists every product and company, the FDA label’s uses and boxed warning, approvals, shortages and recalls: Alendronate sodium →
FDA approval
- NDA: New Drug Application: how a new (usually brand-name) medicine is approved.
| Application | Holder | First approved | Products |
|---|---|---|---|
| NDA020560 | Organon | September 29, 1995 | 1 |
What pharmacies pay (NADAC)
The National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) is the average price U.S. retail pharmacies paid to buy one unit of a medicine (one tablet, one mL or one gram), from a monthly survey of pharmacy invoices by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). State Medicaid programs use it to pay pharmacies.
This is not the price you pay. What you pay depends on your insurance (copay or coinsurance), your pharmacy and any discounts, and pharmacies also charge for filling a prescription. Ask your pharmacist or your health plan what your price will be.
| Strength and form | Generic or brand | Pharmacies pay |
|---|---|---|
| alendronate sodium 70 mg tablet | Brand: Fosamax | $38.70 per tablet Generic of the same strength and form: $0.2571 per tablet |
NADAC list of November 4, 2026; these prices took effect on January 1, 2026. Shown only where a package’s NDC code matches the NADAC list exactly, and only for that exact strength and form: nothing is averaged across strengths. Strengths and forms not listed here have no NADAC price.
Source: NADAC (National Average Drug Acquisition Cost) 2026, data.medicaid.gov (CMS) →
Companies that list Fosamax
The company named on the package (holder, repackager or distributor), as listed in the FDA NDC Directory, with its number of Fosamax products.
- Organon LLC1 product
Recalls
No recall linked to Fosamax products (by their NDC code or label) appears in the FDA enforcement reports.
Sources
- NDC Directory (openFDA) — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), FDA data exported October 30, 2026, retrieved October 31, 2026
- Drugs@FDA (openFDA) — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), FDA data exported October 30, 2026, retrieved October 31, 2026
- Drug labeling (SPL, openFDA) — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), FDA data exported October 30, 2026, retrieved October 31, 2026
- Drug recall enforcement reports (openFDA) — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), FDA data exported October 27, 2026, retrieved October 31, 2026
- NADAC (National Average Drug Acquisition Cost) 2026 — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), data.medicaid.gov, list of November 4, 2026, retrieved November 7, 2026
Which names get a brand page: a name the NDC Directory lists for a medicine, held by one company (the FDA application holder, or the company named on most of its products), that is not just a description, and that is not the only product of its medicine.