The drugmaker said the generic EpiPen, which will be identical to the branded version, will be available in the next several weeks. Upon launch, the product will be available as a two-pack carton in both 0.15-mg and 0.30-mg strengths. The EpiPen provides a rapid injection of epinephrine to counter anaphylactic shock occurring from allergic reactions to a bee sting, peanut allergy or other cause. People usually keep a number of EpiPens handy at home, school or work. Now, the company is being accused of price gouging after significantly increasing the EpiPen price in recent years.
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To counter the criticism, the company said last week it would expand patient assistance programs to commercially insured patients to help with out-of-pocket costs. Now those who pay the full price of $600 are often able to use a co-pay card to bring that cost down to $300. And for those without commercial insurance, this should put the price in line with those paying $300 while using the savings card (which is just for the branded EpiPen, and wouldn’t be for this generic version). Mylan, the only US maker, has raised the price for its EpiPen Auto-Injectors by 480 percent since 2009.
“To know that this company and the CEO are making so much money off of it and there are parents who have to decide if they have enough money to save their child’s life, it’s terrifying”, said Schuller-Meyer. High deductible coverage can require patients to pay thousands of dollars toward medical care or prescriptions before most coverage kicks in.
However, those concessions did little to remedy the public’s scorn, largely because the product’s list price didn’t change. Additionally, some pharmacists will not be able to stock anything except the EpiPen version, so Mylan’s revenue will still remain higher with a cheaper generic option than if they cut EpiPen’s cost over all. Sanofi has pulled its device from the market, and Teva was forced to delay the launch of its version.
Numerous members of Congress and other politicians this week have called for congressional hearings on Mylan’s pricing, an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and action by the Food and Drug Administration to increase competition by speeding up approvals of any rival products.
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Mylan’s shares were up 2% at $43.90 in premarket trading. The generic drug will cost $300 per two-pack, about half the cost of the $608 brand name EpiPen.
