Mylan to Offer Generic EpiPen At Half the Price — But Is That Enough?
Mylan, the manufacturer of the EpiPen, found itself under serious fire this past week after hiking the price of their lifesaving anaphylaxis drug to $600. Families came forward to share how the cost of the drug was putting their children in life-threatening situations, a Congressional committee demanded Mylan explain the increase, and spokeswoman Sarah Jessica Parker cut ties with the company.
In response, Mylan announced this morning that they will offer a generic EpiPen for half the price of the current on on the market.
"We understand the deep frustration and concerns associated with the cost of EpiPen to the patient, and have always shared the public's desire to ensure that this important product be accessible to anyone who needs it," Mylan CEO Heather Bresch said in a press release. "Generic drugs have a long, proven track record of delivering significant savings to both patients and the overall healthcare system. The launch of a generic EpiPen, which follows the steps we took last week on the brand to immediately reduce patients' out-of-pocket costs, will offer a long-term solution to further reduce costs and ease the burden and complexity of the process on the patient."
A two-pack of the generic epinephrine auto-injector will be half the price of an EpiPen 2-Pak, which brings the cost from $600 to $300. The generic version of the drug will be available in just a couple of weeks.
That's certainly some relief to allergy sufferers who rely on the life-saving medication. But it's still extremely expensive, especially considering the drug costs just a few dollars to make, according to CBS News.
In the press release, Bresch blames the price increases of recent years on the "broken system" of supply chain middlemen and insurance companies with high-deductible plans. While both of those are undoubtedly part of the problem, pushing the price problem on to consumers shouldn't be the solution.
Why hasn't Mylan done this already? Because they didn't have to. The company has had a near monopoly on epinephrine auto injectors for decades. Because they have no real competitors, they've had no reason to offer a generic version of the drug before. The term "authorized generic," by the way, means the drug is the exact same as the brand name product, it will just come in different colors or different packaging, according to Business Insider.
And the company will still make plenty of money off the generic product. Even though Mylan will get 25 percent less profit from the generic, it's still forecasted to make close to $1 billion in sales this year, reports STAT News - and that's not even accounting for the extra product this new move may help them sell.
It appears the company is listening to consumers, and bringing a generic drug to market is a big step in the right direction. But taking the price from astronomical to merely atmospheric isn't much of a compromise. Hopefully, this is a wake-up call to the company to start researching other ways to bring down the cost of such an important drug - life-saving medication shouldn't feel out-of-reach to anyone who needs it.
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