It will be available in both 0.15-milligram and 0.30-milligram strengths, like the current version on the market.
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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.
Allergy sufferers often have several pens – one to keep at home, as well as others at school or work, or in the auto. The pens have a syringe that is filled with the hormone epinephrine, but it expires after a year.
The list price for the pack of two was a little more than $100 when Mylan first bought the device in 2007.
CEO Heather Bresch has defended EpiPen’s high price, saying Mylan had spent hundreds of millions of dollars improving the product since acquiring it from Germany’s Merck.
Last Thursday, Mylan announced that it will provide an instant savings card worth $300 to any patient that now pays full price for the EpiPen out of pocket.
Mylan also intends to continue to market and distribute branded EpiPen.
How much an individual pays for an EpiPen prescription can depend on insurance coverage.
IBD’S TAKE: Mylan’s misadventures show why relying on price increases for growth is a risky strategy.
Mylan is taking a lot of heat these days for boosting the price of its EpiPen by more than 400 per cent.
If you’re frustrated with the high price of EpiPen, Consumer Reports says that generic Adrenaclick may be an option to discuss with your doctor. But at a cost of $US300 ($397) – which is half of the branded product’s list price – it’s still a heap of money for this critically important medicine.
Mylan will now offer a two-pack of generic EpiPens for just $300, to be released in the next several weeks.
Those measures, however, did not stem the public furor, in part because the company kept the list price the same. But that could change. Brand-name drug companies rarely start selling authorized generic versions of their own products, and when they do, it is usually to undercut an outside generic competitor. None is likely to hit the USA market until well into next year. A chorus of politicians, consumer groups and parents has been calling for hearings and investigations of EpiPen pricing, along with action by the Food and Drug Administration to speed approvals of rival products.
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Shares of Mylan NV slipped 34 cents to $42.69 in morning trading Monday, while broader indexes rose slightly.
