After pharmaceutical company Mylan decided to purchase the EpiPen and then jack up the price only to relent by promising to create a “generic” that only cost three times as much as it used to, many people wished they would all be sent to jail. Sadly, that will not happen. A few good things came of the attention Mylan received over this debacle. One of those nice treats was Mylan getting hit for having already been “improperly” classifying their EpiPen to gouge taxpayers for years. The other good news is that CVS Pharmacy, partnering with Impax Laboratories, saw this as a golden opportunity to screw Mylan.
Pharmaceutical giant CVS announced Thursday that it has partnered with Impax Laboratories to sell a generic epinephrine auto-injector for $109.99 for a two-pack—a dramatic cut from Mylan’s Epipen two-pack prices, which list for more than $600 as a brand name and $300 as a generic.
The lower-cost auto-injector, a generic form of Adrenaclick, is available starting today nationwide in the company’s more than 9,600 pharmacies. Its price resembles that of EpiPen’s before Mylan bought the rights to the life-saving devices back in 2007 and raised the price repeatedly, sparking outcry.
The new generic will cost around $109.99 for a two-pack—with or without insurance. Impax Laboratories will also offer a coupon that will reduce the cost down to $9.99 for those who qualify. This is good news for the health of human beings living in the United States. Other good news is that Mylan continues to eat crow.
The lifesaving allergy medication has been a flash point for debates over rising drug costs. Manufacturer Mylan (MYL) jacked up the price of the EpiPen by more than 400% since 2009, and was forced to develop a generic alternative amid national outrage.
Cigna now says it will only cover the half-priced generic version, which launched in December.
The bad news is that while CVS may have some very good intentions here, there is also a lot of potential dirt they are trying to get out in front of and smooth over.
The CVS move also comes amid scrutiny over the role of pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, such as the CVS Caremark unit, in contributing to EpiPen increases. The National Community Pharmacists Association recently called for a Congressional hearing on how pharmacy benefit managers have contributed to the "absurdly high" price.
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Beyond generating publicity for siding with aggrieved customers, the company's PBM negotiates pricing with drug companies and may be seeking to tip the balance of power in its favor. Caremark manages prescription drugs through more than 68,000 retail pharmacies, including its own, as well as mail-order operations.
For now, trying to shame big companies into better business practices is worthwhile if we don’t forget that there still need to be laws and real punishments in place for those who abuse their monopoly statuses.