Heather Bresch, chief executive at Mylan, the pharmaceutical giant that has been vilified for price increases on its EpiPen allergy treatment, maintains that her company has attained a sort of capitalist nirvana – it does good for others while doing well for itself.
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Under Clinton’s plan, a “dedicated group” of officials from health and safety federal agencies would be formed and tasked “with protecting consumers from outlier price increases”. It includes new enforcement tools to support alternative manufacturers to increase competition and bring down prices; emergency importation of alternative treatments; and penalties for drug companies.
Specifically, Clinton pointed to the ongoing controversy of Cecil Township-based Mylan raising the price of its EpiPens – epinephrine auto-injectors used to counter allergic reactions – by 400 percent since 2007 and Turing hiking the price of a drug for AIDS patients by more than 5,000 percent.
Amid an outcry by parents, consumer groups and USA politicians, the company said on Monday it will soon launch the first generic version of the device for US$300, half the list price of its branded product.
“The rule establishes a new process for pharmaceutical companies to follow if they have products, like EpiPen, approved under a what the FDA calls a “new drug application” that they believe should continue to be treated as a non-innovator drug”, Mylan said in the statement.
Read Saturday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details. “If this proves true, not only has Mylan been gouging family budgets through steep price hikes, but it appears they may have also been taking advantage of taxpayers through Medicaid for decades”.
On Friday, Hillary Clinton called for creation of a government commission with the power to compete with or penalize pharmaceutical companies like Mylan, Valeant and Turing that jack up the prices of lifesaving drugs that have been on the market for years. “Leading experts have suggested direct purchases to respond to price increases and a lack of competition for generic drugs”, the proposal says. In response to an outcry, Mylan said last week that it will take several steps to cut prices, including introducing a lower-priced generic alternative.
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Mylan’s stock has fallen by 17% since the debate around the EpiPen’s price began to heat up on August 22. Clinton noted that many of those companies do not develop the drugs themselves but acquire the manufacturing rights and then raise the prices. Our pharmaceutical and biotech industries are an incredible source of American innovation and revolutionary treatments for debilitating diseases.
