The company, Mylan, said Monday that the generic EpiPen, expected in several weeks, would be identical to the existing product, which is used to treat severe allergic reactions.
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The generic will be listed at $300, half the cost of the brand-name Epipen.
Its only U.S. competitor is Adrenaclick, a device sold by Impax Laboratories that has not caught on with patients and doctors.
The company last week said it would expand patient assistance programs to reduce out-of-pocket costs to the consumer but high-profile critics in a politically charged election season said this was not enough. Last week, leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Special Committee on Aging sent similar letters to Mylan, requesting information about how the company determined the price of EpiPens.
The generic drug giant has come under increasing fire in recent weeks from lawmakers and medical and consumer groups accusing the company of price-gouging. It will cost half the price of the name brand, so about $300 for a two pack of EpiPens.
Mylan NV CEO Heather Bresch defended the price hikes last week, saying the company only received $274 of the total price for a twin-package while insurers, pharmacies and other parties divvy up the rest.
“Myl?an may appear to be moving in the right direction, but its announcement raises as many questions as solutions – including why the price is still astronomically high, and whether its action is a preemptive strike against a competing generic”, said Sen. “Our decision to launch a generic alternative to EpiPen is an extraordinary commercial response, which required the cooperation of our partner”.
“It costs us about $15 dollars”, said Knoer, on the actual cost per vial of Epinephrine.
Analysts say Mylan has benefited from little competition. Sanofi has pulled its device from the market, and Teva was forced to delay the launch of its version. Teva is hoping to win regulatory approval next year. “Competition is what brings the cost of drugs down”, she said.
She said some MI residents buy their EpiPens in Canada, where – in an environment of government price controls – the injectors sell for about $200 a pack.
In its latest move to quell outrage over its price increases, the maker of the EpiPen has resorted to an unusual tactic – introducing a generic version of its own product.
“The weirdness of a generic drug company offering a generic version of its own branded but off-patent product is a signal that something is wrong”, he said in a statement.
Generic drugs must have the same active ingredients as name-brand drugs and it’s commonplace for pharmacists to substitute generic medications for name-brand medications for patients, according to doctors.
“There is some loss of revenue here, but … anything which will help alleviate the broader pressure should help the stock”, he wrote in a research report Monday. “While families and schools are struggling to keep up with your company’s unreasonable price increases, Mylan has profited richly from its pricing strategy”.
The US Food and Drug Administration in February declined to approve the product because of dosing problems.
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Shares of Mylan jumped more than 2 percent, or $1.02, to $44.05 Monday, before markets opened.
