Mercaptopurine
Mercaptopurine was ranked 653rd of 1,796 medicines by items in May 2026, with 3,749 items, down 11.8% on a year earlier.
Dispensed in May 2026
Rolling 12 months
Net ingredient cost · May 2026
Figure 1. Mercaptopurine: national items dispensed by month
Source: NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis, to May 2026
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At a glance
- Therapeutic class Cytotoxic drugs
- Presentations 8 shown
- Average cost / item £29.66
- Year on year Down 11.8% on a year earlier
Top presentations, May 2026
The individual products dispensed under Mercaptopurine this month.
| Presentation | BNF code | Items | Net ingredient cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercaptopurine 50mg tablets | 0801030L0AAAAAA | 3,627 | £89,064 |
| Mercaptopurine 10mg tablets | 0801030L0AAABAB | 56 | £6,701 |
| Xaluprine 20mg/ml oral suspension | 0801030L0BCABAQ | 29 | £4,721 |
| Hanixol 50mg tablets | 0801030L0BDAAAA | 15 | £717 |
| Mercaptopurine 10mg capsules | 0801030L0AAAGAG | 11 | £2,173 |
| Mercaptopurine 25mg capsules | 0801030L0AAALAL | 8 | £6,524 |
| Mercaptopurine 25mg tablets | 0801030L0AAAJAJ | 2 | £621 |
| Mercaptopurine 75mg tablets | 0801030L0AAANAN | 1 | £674 |
Source: NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis · to May 2026 OGL v3.0
Where Mercaptopurine is dispensed
The regions and dispensing practices with the highest Mercaptopurine volumes.
Top regions
Top dispensing practices
Regional volumes from NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis; practice volumes from NHS dispensing data.
Compare Mercaptopurine with
Other medicines in the same BNF section, by prescribing volume.
Download this data
The monthly series for Mercaptopurine is in this page's CSV. For the ranked national series across every medicine, with the method and caveats documented, see the most-prescribed medicines dataset in our open data catalogue.