Industry Insiders Estimate EpiPen Costs No More than $30.

[Stuart G]

Source: NBC News,.. Sep 6 2016, 2:40 pm ET

Mylan says middlemen and suppliers have forced them to jack-up the prices on EpiPens by hundreds of dollars, but two industry insiders say the company pays no more than $30 per device.

Meanwhile, some patients are forced to pay a little over $600 out of pocket for a two-pack of the lifesaving medication. Mylan sparked outrage last month when it was revealed the company had hiked up costs for the drug by over 400 percent since it acquired the brand. At the same time, CEO Heather Bresch's salary soared over 600 percent to nearly $19 million in 2015.

A third expert pegs Mylan's cost even lower, at about $20. Kevin Deane, head of medical technologies for PA Consulting Group, a global technology and design firm that sold a drug delivery technology company to Pfizer in 2004, told NBC News that the base components for each EpiPen, including the plastic cap, tube, and needle, might cost between $2 to $4 to purchase. Pharmacists contacted by NBC estimate that the epinephrine inside costs less than $1.

Additionally, based on industry norms, Mylan would have to pay a licensing fee to companies involved in research and development of the device. This amount might generally multiply the price that Mylan pays Pfizer's wholly owned subsidiary Meridian Medical Technologies, which manufactures the epinephrine auto-injector between two and five times, said Deane.

"What they've been doing is they've been making little updates to it, refinements to make it work better," said Deane. "But it essentially is the same core technology that was there for many years," he said.



Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/industry-insiders-estimate-epipen-costs-no-more-30-n642091

[Skittles]

1. legalized extortion

[Stuart G]

2. I think we are the only so called "civilized country" that allows this

...Are we really civilized if it is legal for this to happen?

[Recursion]

3. Every other country allowed generics. We don't. The FDA refuses to say why.

They simply said "not enough testing" has been done on the alternative injectors that are working fine in the EU.

[Native]

7. And they negotiate prices with the pharmaceutical industry.

[TexasBushwhacker]

13. There is a cheaper competitor

It's made by Lineage Therapeutics. The thing is Epipen has become the "Xerox" of autoinjectors. People just need their doctors to write Adrenaclick on the prescriptions and "generic allowed". The thing is, most pharmacies have jacked up the prices on it as well. But Walmart sells the 2 pack for $150.

[underpants]

4. Ben Elgin at Bloomberg News has been all over this issue

Ben Elgin Bloomberg News

Elgin is a top notch reporter. Great work. The May 19th article article breaks down how the whole charity scheme works.

[NWCorona]

10. Word!

[James48]

5. The U.S. Government paid for the development of the auto injector

for use in treatment of chemical warfare victims.

The current purchase is for two auto-injectors- the larger of the two contains
PRALIDOXIME CHLORIDE - and is purchased by the U.S. Government under the National Stock Number of:

NSN 6505-01-125-3248.

It costs $18.30 each.


SO those manufacturing this autoinjector "pen" can make them, and fill them with pralidoxime chloride, and sell them to the government and make a profit, at $18.30 each.

Tell me again why we allow patents on this kind of simple technology to be held forever while the company making them gets $600 profit on each pen? Why do we let that happen?

[NWCorona]

11. Yep! Reminds me of the quantitative easing where we loaned out money

At zero percent interest and then borrowed then money back at a loss.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. Gatekeepers

control the flow of lots of things

They run the systems for their own economic profit

This instance is about pricing power and monopolies

Surely some law applies to this somewhere

[Rex]

8. Predatory capitalism, it is a favorite among the neo-liberals.

They never met a corporation they did not love.

[allan01]

9. preditory gouging is un fair and not "neo liberlisem"

[Rex]

16. Yeah...that is not what I said.

But okay.

[AngryAmish]

12. Not capitalism. It is a governmental monopoly for insiders.

We are the chumps.

[Earth_First]

14. It isnt just EpiPen, either...

It's hundreds of prescription drugs, some at less than a few dollar per dose.

It's extortion.

[tclambert]

15. What does it cost in Canada?

I did a quick search and came up with $134 for one pen. Still seems like a hefty markup.