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EpiPen Price Rise Sparks Concern for Allergy Sufferers

well.blogs.nytimes.com

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Re: EpiPen Price Rise Sparks Concern for Allergy Sufferers

#11

Post by Mandatum »

They don't produce EpiPen's as a generic in India because the Indian medical community does not recommend self-administration of epinephrine.

If you're that much in need though, you can buy pre-filled epinephrine syringes for intramuscular injection - just keep in mind the ease-of-use of an EpiPen won't be available. You have to take the time to take off the cap, insert and inject the medicine.

Re: EpiPen Price Rise Sparks Concern for Allergy Sufferers

#13

Post by Animats »

helloworld wrote: post #2

Why haven't competitors entered the market with cheaper products?

They did. Windgap[1] took venture capital, took state funding from Massachusetts back in 2012, and didn't ship the product. Cool web site, though. Sanofi tried, but their product misfired at least 26 times and was recalled.[2] Teva tried, and their product was rejected by the FDA because of problems; they're going to try again with a new model in 2017.[3]

[1] http://www.windgapmedical.com/ [2] https://www.auvi-q.com/ [3] http://www.fiercepharma.com/sales-and-marketing/fda-swats-do...

Re: EpiPen Price Rise Sparks Concern for Allergy Sufferers

#16

Post by ccleve »

helloworld wrote: post #2

Why haven't competitors entered the market with cheaper products?

There are really two villains here, Mylan, of course, but more importantly, the FDA. FDA regulations make the cost of bringing a new medical device to the market absurd. There are no competitors because the time and effort to bring a competing device is so ridiculously high that it doesn't pay to do so.

I have a child with a peanut allergy. I am worried every damn day of my life. I see articles about people who die every year because they didn't have an Epipen handy. The numbers of people who die will increase. I want to see FDA bureaucrats hauled to those funerals so they can see what they've done.

Re: EpiPen Price Rise Sparks Concern for Allergy Sufferers

#18

Post by gmisra »

One of the early on-line responses was "maybe we can figure out how to 3D print these cases". It turns out that an Epi-pen is just a plastic safety housing around a normal syringe.

Some discussions:

https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/4y5481/cost_of_epipen...

https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/4y7f26/epipen_f...

Re: EpiPen Price Rise Sparks Concern for Allergy Sufferers

#19

Post by sriram_sun »

eliben wrote: post #10

If the product is decades-old, why haven't generic variants appeared? Something seems to be missing from this article.

There are generics. What is patented is the delivery mechanism. I've had to administer it twice. You take the cap off and just push it into the thigh. The top part moves back and the needle pushes through.

Re: EpiPen Price Rise Sparks Concern for Allergy Sufferers

#20

Post by ceejayoz »

tomohawk wrote: post #12

The US is subsidizing the rest of the world. When Canada decrees that the price of something will by X, then guess who pays?

EpiPens were created by the US government, and have been around since the 1980s. Let's not pretend they've suddenly gotten massively more expensive to make or got a burst of unprofitable popularity in Canada.
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