OBJECTIVES: Armodafinil and modafinil are indicated to improve wakefulness in patients with excessive sleepiness associated with treated obstructive sleep apnea, shift work disorder, and narcolepsy. Because both medications are approved for once-daily dosing with different tablet strengths, their real-world utilization may differ. This analysis examined utilization of armodafinil and modafinil based on daily average consumption (DACON) and determined the impact of armodafinil and modafinil on pharmacy budgets using an economic modeling technique. METHODS: DACON was examined in a retrospective database analysis of Wolters Kluwer Source LX pharmacy analytic data collected from March 1, 2009 to May 31, 2010. DACON was calculated by dividing the total tablets dispensed by the total days supplied. An economic model was used to evaluate the financial impact of changes in prescription share from modafinil to armodafinil. RESULTS: The DACON for armodafinil and modafinil were 1.03 (70,976 prescriptions) and 1.40 (453,216 prescriptions), respectively. Among patients with 2 to 8 prescription fills for armodafinil, the DACON remained between 1.03 and 1.05. A total of 6,069 modafinil patients switched to armodafinil. Their DACON on modafinil was 1.46 before switching and was 1.05 after switching to armodafinil. Based on economic modeling, and assuming a 10% increase in armodafinil’s share of prescriptions, the projected annual cost savings with armodafinil would be $921,949 (per-member-per-month savings of $0.077). Assuming a 20% increase in armodafinil’s share, the projected annual savings would be $1,843,897 (per-member-per-month savings of $0.154). CONCLUSIONS: By using pharmaceutical claims data in tandem with well-designed economic models, payers can better estimate current and future pharmaceutical spending. Based on this DACON analysis, the utilization of armodafinil has a real-world advantage over modafinil that can significantly affect pharmacy budgets. This research was sponsored by and conducted in collaboration with Cephalon, Inc., Frazer, PA.