LZ: The maker of EpiPen announced Friday it will start selling a generic version of its life-saving allergy treatment at a more than 50-percent discount. The generic two-pack should be available for $300 in pharmacies nationwide starting next week.
The news comes just a day after 20 U.S. states filed a lawsuit against generic drugmakers, including Mylan, over prices, Reuters reported. The lawsuit, which also names Teva Pharmaceuticals and four other generic drugmakers, states the companies conspired on pricing of two common generic drugs, according to a copy of the complaint.
Mylan has been under investigation by the U.S. government after raising its prices to more than $600 from $100 in 2008.
465 million just the cost of doing business.
It’s 11 cents worth of drug in an idiot proof injector. 100 patient’s could be given disposable insulin hypodermics and 2 doses of epinephrine for the cost of a generic epipen 2-pack.
Too little, too late. Continue the lawsuit until the price matches the cost.
If the price matches the cost why would anyone make it?
Stock market up, jobs saved and now price gouging is on the decline. Huh.
About 3 years ago I updated my epipen 2 pack, and it was just over $300 bucks. How is the generic for about the same price half of what the brand name costs?
Medicine is not based on capitalist principles, it is based on the cost of complying with all the government regulations associated with it, including the bribes that have to be paid to do business in the medical/governmental industrial complex.
The EpiPen was not a new product on the market; it was already an approved product that previously sold for $94 per pair in 2007 (≈$110 in 2016 dollars) and presumably wasn’t losing money at that price. Once approved, there are seldom any need for retesting or recertification. In some states, schools must stock these (or an equivalent) and with an expiry date of 12 months, it means a guaranteed expenditure of at least $600 per annum at the new price for every school.
The reason for the price increase might be due to the failure of generic equivalents to pass certification, “One potential EpiPen competitor, Teva Pharmaceuticals, failed to obtain regulatory approval, delaying their entry into the market. Another competitor, Sanofi, recalled its competing epinephrine delivery device because it may be delivering in incorrect dosage. That leaves Mylan alone in the market, with the power to raise prices, which is what it did.” – http://theconversation.com/the-real-reason-the-epipen-and-other-off-patents-are-so-expensive-64346
@Watcher – So the real question is why couldn’t another manufacturer obtain regulatory approval? It is very difficult to believe that it is so impossible for another competitor or two can’t participate unless the government regulations are rigging things.
Oh wait, that wouldn’t happen with this administration…
The woman who did this should be in jail.