Apremilast
Brand names: Otezla
At a glance
- Medicare prescriptions, 2024
- 161,100
- Medicare drug cost
- $779.9M
- Average cost per prescription
- $4,841
- Clinicians who prescribed it
- 7,290
Where it is prescribed
List the prescribers in any state, county, city or ZIP code →
What it is used for
OTEZLA/OTEZLA XR, an inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4), is indicated for the treatment of: Adult patients with: Active psoriatic arthritis Plaque psoriasis who are candidates for phototherapy or systemic therapy Oral ulcers associated with Behçet's Disease Pediatric patients 6 years of age and older with: Active psoriatic arthritis Moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for phototherapy or systemic therapy In the pediatric population
From the FDA-approved prescribing information (label dated September 2026). Full labels on DailyMed (opens in a new tab)
Who prescribes it
- Dermatology 36.2%
- Rheumatology 24.6%
- Physician Assistants 17.8%
- Nurse Practitioners 11.0%
- Internal Medicine 4.0%
- Family Medicine 3.7%
- Mohs Surgery 0.9%
- Dermatopathology 0.4%
- Geriatric Medicine 0.3%
- General Practice 0.2%
- Pharmacists 0.1%
- Emergency Medicine 0.1%
All prescribers, by place, name or specialty →
Share of Medicare prescriptions written by each specialty. Select one to list its prescribers.
Trend, 2019–2024
Medicare prescriptions rose 97% from 2019 to 2024.
From CMS’s yearly state and national Part D summaries, which count every prescriber, including those CMS leaves out of its per-clinician data (fewer than 11 prescriptions). That is why these totals are higher than the count at the top of this page. Prescriptions include refills.
What it looks like
Pills from 1 maker on file. The same medicine can look different depending on who made it, so check the imprint (the letters and numbers on the pill) with your pharmacist if a refill looks different.
Amgen, Inc
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 20 mg | brown diamond tablet, 10 mm | APR 20 |
| 30 mg | white diamond tablet, 12 mm | APR 30 |
| 75 mg | pink round tablet, 12 mm | APR 75 |
Source: DailyMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine), from each maker’s FDA drug listing. A few makers are shown, not every one. Never take a pill you can’t identify; ask a pharmacist.
Industry payments about this drug
Drug makers reported $6.8M in payments to clinicians that named this drug in 2025 (meals, speaking, consulting and similar).
- Amgen Inc. $6.8M
Source: CMS Open Payments, general payments (not research), program year 2025. A payment is not evidence of wrongdoing. Payments by doctor
Recalls and shortages
Not on the FDA drug shortage list.
No FDA-reported recalls since 2020.
Sources: CMS Medicare Part D Prescribers by Provider and Drug (2024; prescriptions include refills, and CMS hides counts under 11 per prescriber); U.S. Food and Drug Administration, openFDA (drug labels, NDC directory, enforcement reports, drug shortages); CMS Open Payments 2025; ClinicalTrials.gov. General information only, not medical advice; not yet reviewed by our medical reviewer.