Rifampin Coupons & Prices

Use a free Rx.com rifampin coupon to compare cash prices at more than 60,000 pharmacies before you fill your prescription. Rifampin (also spelled rifampicin) is an antibiotic used in combination regimens to treat tuberculosis and to clear meningococcal bacteria from the nose and throat of healthy carriers. It is available as an FDA-approved generic capsule, but the cash price you are quoted can differ a great deal from one pharmacy to the next, even within the same town, so it is worth checking. Enter your ZIP code above to see today's price near you.

What is rifampin and how does it work?

Rifampin is an antimycobacterial antibiotic in the rifamycin class. It works by blocking bacterial DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, the enzyme bacteria use to transcribe their DNA into RNA. Without that step, the bacteria cannot produce the proteins they need to survive. Because bacteria can develop resistance to rifampin quickly, it is never used by itself to treat active tuberculosis. It is prescribed alongside other antituberculosis medicines as part of a combination regimen.

The FDA-approved uses for rifampin capsules are the treatment of all forms of tuberculosis, in combination with other antituberculosis agents, and the elimination of Neisseria meningitidis from the nose and throat in people who carry the bacteria but have no symptoms, in order to prevent spread to others. It is not approved to treat active meningococcal disease.

In the US, rifampin is filled as generic capsules. The brand-name versions are no longer on the market: Rifadin capsules were discontinued from sale in 2020 and FDA lists them in the Discontinued Drug Product List section of the Orange Book, having determined in August 2025 that they were not withdrawn for reasons of safety or effectiveness. Rifadin IV has been listed as unavailable because the manufacturer stopped making it, and the older brand Rimactane is no longer marketed either. The fixed-dose combination products that contained rifampin, Rifamate (rifampin and isoniazid) and Rifater (rifampin, isoniazid, and pyrazinamide), were also discontinued and are not available in the US. Where those combinations were once used, the individual drugs are prescribed separately.

What rifampin costs without insurance, and how to pay less

Rifampin capsules are available as an FDA-approved generic, and there is no manufacturer savings card for a generic. Whether your pharmacy can swap one manufacturer's capsule for another depends on your state's substitution law and the product's FDA therapeutic equivalence rating, so it is a question for your pharmacist rather than something to assume. One thing worth knowing before you shop: rifampin capsules have been on drug shortage lists, with at least one manufacturer discontinuing its version and supply from remaining manufacturers reported as limited. That means availability, not just price, may decide where you can fill.

Comparing still matters. Pharmacies set their own cash prices, and those prices are not coordinated, so the same prescription for the same strength and quantity can be priced very differently across the street from each other. Rx.com checks cash prices across more than 60,000 pharmacies and shows you a free coupon you can hand to the pharmacist, with no insurance and no membership needed. A couple of practical tips: call ahead to confirm the pharmacy actually has rifampin in stock before you make a trip; check independent and grocery-store pharmacies, not just the big chains; and if your treatment is being managed through a public health or TB clinic, ask them first, because many health departments supply tuberculosis medicines directly at no cost to the patient. Enter your ZIP code above to see today's price at pharmacies near you. This is not medical advice, and cost should never be the reason you stop a TB regimen early. Talk with your provider or clinic if the price is a barrier.

Rifampin compared with related drugs

Rifampin is almost always one part of a multi-drug regimen rather than a standalone treatment. The other medicines commonly used with it for tuberculosis include isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol. Fixed-dose combination tablets that packaged rifampin together with some of these agents, Rifamate and Rifater, have been discontinued in the US, so these drugs are now prescribed as separate products. Which drugs you take, in what combination, and for how long is decided by your prescriber based on your specific infection, not by cost.

Other members of the rifamycin family are used for different jobs and are not interchangeable with rifampin. Rifabutin and rifapentine are used in certain mycobacterial regimens where their different interaction and dosing profiles matter. Rifaximin is a rifamycin that stays almost entirely in the gut and treats completely different conditions. It is not a substitute for rifampin. Never substitute one rifamycin for another on your own.

Rifampin safety, side effects, and drug interactions

Rifampin capsules do not carry an FDA boxed warning, but there are important risks to understand. The most serious is liver injury. Rifampin has been linked to hepatocellular, cholestatic, and mixed liver damage, ranging from mildly elevated liver enzymes with no symptoms to fulminant liver failure and death. The risk is higher in people with existing liver disease, people who drink alcohol, and people taking other liver-stressing drugs, especially isoniazid and pyrazinamide. Baseline and periodic liver testing is advised. Contact your provider right away if you notice dark urine, yellowing of the skin or eyes, pain in the upper right side of your abdomen, or lasting nausea or loss of appetite.

Other things to know:

• Very large interaction burden. Rifampin is a potent inducer of CYP3A4, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2B6, P-glycoprotein, and UGT. It can sharply lower the levels of many other medicines and cause them to stop working. This includes HIV protease inhibitors and many antiretrovirals (several are contraindicated), DOACs and warfarin, hormonal contraceptives, immunosuppressants such as tacrolimus and cyclosporine, corticosteroids, methadone, statins, and azole antifungals. Give your provider and pharmacist a complete list of everything you take, including supplements, before you start.
• Flu-like and hypersensitivity reactions. More common with intermittent or interrupted dosing. These can include fever, chills, and muscle aches, and rarely hemolytic anemia, low platelets, DIC, acute kidney injury or interstitial nephritis, and shock. Severe skin reactions (SJS/TEN, DRESS) have been reported, as has Clostridioides difficile-associated diarrhea.
• Harmless discoloration. Rifampin turns urine, sweat, tears, saliva, and stool a red-orange-brown color. This is expected. Soft contact lenses and dentures can be permanently stained.
• Drug screens. Rifampin can cause false-positive results on some urine drug tests.

Take rifampin on an empty stomach, one hour before or two hours after a meal, and finish the full course exactly as prescribed. Skipped or on-and-off dosing raises both the risk of resistance and the risk of hypersensitivity reactions. This page is general information, not medical advice. Talk with your provider or pharmacist about your own situation.