Tag: Ycanth

Cantharidin is a powerful vesicant derived from the blister beetle, and its medicinal use dates back centuries. When asking about the ingredients in cantharidin, the answer depends on the specific formulation—some contain only the active compound, while others are compounded with additional agents for enhanced effectiveness.

The list price for the FDA-approved brand-name product, YCANTH, was $685 per applicator as of July 2023, though this is not the price most patients will pay out of pocket. The answer to **how much does cantharidin solution cost?** depends heavily on whether you receive the brand-name product, a compounded version from a specialty pharmacy, or an older formula like Cantharone.

As of late 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has explicitly stated that no nonprescription products for molluscum have been approved, making prescription-only administration the only FDA-sanctioned route for using cantharidin. So, is cantharidin for molluscum over the counter? The simple and medically-endorsed answer is no.

First approved by the FDA in 2023, Ycanth (cantharidin) is a brand-name prescription medication, and there is currently no generic product available in the United States. This means that while cantharidin is the active ingredient, patients cannot obtain a therapeutically equivalent, generic version on the U.S. market.

Affecting approximately 6 million people in the U.S., primarily children, molluscum contagiosum now has its first FDA-approved treatment [1.6.3]. So, do you need a prescription for cantharidin, the active ingredient in this treatment? The answer is unequivocally yes.

For decades, cantharidin was considered too dangerous and unproven for widespread FDA approval, a status stemming from its origin as a potent blister beetle poison and historical failures to provide sufficient efficacy data. In a significant turn of events, a specific topical formulation of cantharidin, Ycanth, received FDA approval in July 2023, rewriting the narrative around why cantharidin was not FDA approved for so long.