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Objectives The current study aims to compare the retail prices of the 10 most prescribed drugs in Northern Malaysia and Australia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted to compare the retail prices of the 10 most used prescription medications in Penang, Malaysia, with the retail prices of the same drugs in Australia. Data collection was done using a standard form. Percentage difference was calculated using simple mathematical formulae in Microsoft Excel. Key findings Findings demonstrate that the mean retail drug prices in Penang, Malaysia, were 30.30-148.28% higher than the mean retail prices in Australia. In addition, variation between retail prices was also noticed between pharmacies in Penang, with a difference between highest and lowest of 80%. Conclusion Malaysia has average higher retail prescription drug prices compared to Australia due to the lack of pharmaceutical market regulation, which could impose limits on prices, profits and total spending on pharmaceuticals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]