The rising cost has made it hard for many families to afford EpiPens, prompting a public outcry that has resonated with legislators.
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Mylan CEO Heather Bresch insisted Wednesday that the outrage swirling around her company’s decision to dramatically hike the cost of its EpiPen has been overblown. Bresch defended the cost.
In a market as big as the one for the Epipen and with the price that can be charged for a drug that costs $1 to make, he said a lot of companies would be rushing to compete if it weren’t so tough to get a drug-device combination product through the FDA. The price of a two-pack of EpiPens has risen from approximately $100 in 2009 to around $600, according to medical literature and various pharmacies across the nation. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., tried to quell the fury by casting the image of a company that makes a life-saving device.
Cummings and Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, had written to Bresch requesting documents and more information about the price increases.
The frustration was bipartisan.
Congressman Elijah Cummings of Maryland is the ranking member on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep.
Mrs. Bresch said they raised prices to invest in improving the epinephrine injectors and make them more widely available. Eleven states, including CT, passed laws requiring EpiPens to be available at all elementary and secondary schools and nearly all of the remaining states strongly encouraged schools to keep the auto-injectors on hand in case of an emergency.
Bresch on Wednesday responded when asked if she was going to lower prices.
Bresch said she is also submitting a version of the product that would last for 24 months, instead of 18 months, to the FDA over the next few days.
“I am a pro-business conservative Republican, and I am just sickened”, said Representative John Duncan (R-TN).
Holding up an EpiPen, Chaffetz said: “The actual juice that’s in here that you need costs about a dollar”.
“You’ve lobbied us to make the taxpayer buy your stuff”.
“You get what you deserve”, said Rep. Mick Mulvaney of SC.
Users of EpiPen, the life-saving drug used to prevent potentially fatal allergic reactions, are left enraged after a price increase. People usually keep multiple EpiPens handy at home, school or work, but the syringes, prefilled with the hormone epinephrine, expire after a year. Public reports have suggested the company paid rebates associated with “non-innovator” drugs, even though brand-name products like the EpiPen injectors generally require higher rebates, Morrisey’s office said.
Bresch, the Marion County native and daughter of U.S. Sen. Several other committees have called for investigations into the matter.
Bresch adds, Mylan plans to offer a almost $300 generic version of the EpiPen in response to the recent price hike.
Critics have said the coupons, discount cards and patient assistance programs aren’t real solutions because many customers won’t use them or won’t qualify for them. She also noted that her company is engaged in research to increase the shelf life of the product, to save parents and schools money in the long term.
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“A mother would cut off her right arm to get that drug. Lower the price so people can afford it”. The injectors sell in two packs for about $600 each. That brought in sales of almost $1.7 billion for Mylan, though the company says it receives about $1.1 billion after rebates and fees paid to insurers, distributors and other health care businesses. But the company said earlier this year that regulators had found problems with its application.
