Mylan launching generic version of EpiPen
Myland N.V. said that it anticipates having the generic versions of EpiPens available in the next several weeks.
NEW YORK >> Mylan says it will make available a generic version of its EpiPen, as criticism mounts over the price of its injectable medicine.
The company said Monday that its U.S. subsidiary will put out a generic version of the EpiPen that will have a list price of $300 for a two-pack — about half the current price. It will be available in both 0.15 mg and 0.30 mg strengths.
EpiPens are used in emergencies to treat severe allergies to insect bites and foods like nuts and eggs that can lead to anaphylactic shock.
People usually keep a number of EpiPens handy at home, school or work. The syringes, prefilled with the hormone epinephrine, expire after a year.
Mylan N.V. said that it anticipates having the generic versions available in the next several weeks. It will continue to market and distribute a branded EpiPen.
The company charges $608 for a two-pack of the branded EpiPen. Mylan said it will keep in place the $300 savings card for the branded EpiPen and the revised patient assistance program announced last week.
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Consumers and politicians have accused the company of price-gouging, considering that the product has been on the market since 1987 and the price didn’t start rising significantly until Mylan acquired it in 2007.
There is also little competition, with the only rival product being Adrenaclick, which carries a list price of $461.
Mylan CEO Heather Bresch has defended the price hikes, saying the company only received $274 of the total price for a twin-package while insurers, pharmacies and other parties divvy up the rest.
People usually keep a number of EpiPens handy at home, school or work. The syringes, prefilled with the hormone epinephrine, expire after a year.
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.
At least two companies are trying to get U.S. approval to sell a rival brand or generic version of EpiPen. None is likely to hit the U.S. market until well into next year. Relief could come sooner from Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, a compounding pharmacy that prepares medicines to fill individual prescriptions. It said it might be able to sell a version in a few months and would likely charge around $100 for two injectors.
18 responses to “Mylan launching generic version of EpiPen”
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How can a company put out a “generic” version of their own product?!!! They are just a scam company. Should probably be shut down. Shameful company!
Mylan is not a scam (your word) company. They seem to have a CEO into scamming or overcharging.
Uhhh, goes way beyond the CEO to the entire board of dysfunctional directors, senior management, stockholders. All a pack of leeches and losers.
The real hypocrisy here is when member of our utterly clueless congress/senate start crying foul at Mylan.
Remembering these are the exact same, bought and paid for by the big Pharma lobby, who directed congress/senate not to allow Medicare negotiate with drug makers for the best and lowest price. The exact same congress/senate which did direct the Veteran’s Administration to negotiate drug makers for a lower price. VA now pays far less for drugs.
Our utterly clueless and unprofessional congress/senate is directly responsible for this ongoing debacle.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/04/20/medicare-part-d-prescription-drug-prices-negotiate-editorials-debates/7943745/
Mylan CEO Heather Bresch has a dad who is a democrat senator. Just sayin’
Read the truth about utterly clueless and unprofessional Mylan CEO Heather Bresch. Turns out she never really finished her MBA program the right way. She is a total sham.
“In 2007, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette discovered that she had completed less than half the required coursework for an executive MBA degree at West Virginia University she claimed. An investigation the following year uncovered a $20 million gift to the school by Mylan’s then-chairman Milan Puskar five years earlier.”
“Bresch’s family ties helped her get a foot in the door at Mylan, where she rose through the ranks. I got my first job at Mylan because of my dad,” she told WV Living magazine in a 2012 profile. “I couldn’t have told you what Mylan did. I vaguely knew it had something to do with science.”
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/mylan-ceo-s-epipen-price-arguments-fall-short-n637801
CEO also a contributor to guess what? Yes, the Clinton foundation.
Will hiLIARy do the right thing and return the $250,000.00?
Pharmaceuticals like lawyers are out to gouge the unsuspecting public. Boycott them!
Wasn’t it on the news last week that the actual medicine in the pen only cost $1.00?
Never heard of it but please give more specifics so you can educate the rest of us.
All true. The cost of the Epinephrine in the EpiPen is around $1. Throw in a few dollars for the out of date plastic injector and packaging and you may have $10. All the rest is just price gouging.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/25/epipens-cost-just-several-dollars-to-make-customers-pay-more-than-600-dollars-for-them.html
Just speaks for itself with regards to gouging. They can all of sudden drop the price to half, not, should be priced at least no more than 1/10 the original price.
$300 for a generic version of the hormone adrenalin. That seems slightly nuts!
” RIP OFF !!! “
A good example for Trump of the establishment and big business ripping off the people. This company lobbied regulators and brought legal action to block competition and lobbied congress to pass a law that required schools to have epiipens while they had a monoply. The drug in the injector costs less than $12 but the injector is not refillable!! And the drug has a lifetime of one year. To do this the company lied and committed fraud to block competition.
Epinephrine, as justmyview said is chemically equivalent to adrenaline which is produced naturally in your body. But because the Epi-Pen is a measured dose, 0.3ml in a self-administerable cartridge – and that most consumers are ignorant dupes, Mylan is able to charge $300 or $600 for a substance that can be purchased OTC for as little as $6.00 though not in a self-injectable cartridge. So who’s the bad guy here?
What I would like to know is the breakdown of how much the pharmacies, insurance, etc. get out of the sale of these types of drugs. It seems ludicrous that a medication that people rely on to survive is marked up so that it costs DOUBLE what the manufacturer marks it at. It seems that we are only looking at the manufacturer when we should be looking at the whole picture. This is how dysfunctional our system is. We need governmental regulations that will protect consumers and not hide the players behind the scene. It has become corrupt due to the lobbying forces and campaign donations of pharmaceutical companies. Until we fix this problem we will continue to pay way more for our prescriptions than we should. Ultimately, this drives up the cost of insurance, the very beast that we have been trying to fix.