US Sen Grassley questioning EpiPen cost increase

24 August 2016

Republican Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has asked the manufacturer of the EpiPen, used for emergency treatment for life-threatening allergic reactions, to explain a steep price increase in the product in recent years.

The EpiPen (epinephrine) auto-injector is marketed by Netherlands-incorporated generics major Mylan (Nasdaq: MYL) and generates annual sales in excess of $1 billion. When Mylan acquired the product in 2007, the cost for a single EpiPen was $57 dollars. Currently the cost has rocketed to as much as $700 for a pack of two, and in some reported cases even more.

Sen Grassley cited concerns expressed to him from Iowans, including a father in Iowa who said he had to pay more than $500 for one EpiPen for his daughter. Iowans also wrote to him that since the pens expire after about a year, the cost is recurring.

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