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tl;dr Sanofi filed a lawsuit against Mylan alleges antitrust behavior. Essentially the article says that Mylan jacked up prices but offered steep rebates to "th

tl;dr Sanofi filed a lawsuit against Mylan alleges antitrust behavior. Essentially the article says that Mylan jacked up prices but offered steep rebates to "third party payors" on condition that they do not reimburse Auvi-Q (made by Sanofi) effectively shutting them out of the market. To me though the kicker was at the very end -- "The list price of the newly released Auvi-Q is set at $4,500." That is for the device now being sold by another company (Kaleo). I just don't understand what is going on here. EpiPen is priced at what $600? CVS sells a generic for about $100 (Adrenaclick).

maxerickson 9y ago
One factor is that "Adrenaclick" is not a generic EpiPen. It is a different branded epinephrine autoinjector, with generic versions available. The FDA regulates epinephrine autoinjectors so that a prescription for EpiPen must be filled with an injector that has the same operating instructions as EpiPen. Adrenaclick and generics do not have the same operating instructions as EpiPen. It's not a completely ridiculous regulatory decision, but it certainly factors into people not using the alternatives.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
taneq 9y ago
This 'Auvi-Q' thing... I don't get it. It's just a rectangular EpiPen. Oh wait, it talks to you. Why do you need an EpiPen to talk to you? You literally just take the cap off, whack it to your (or their) thigh, and count to 5.
- endorphone 9y ago
  You literally just take the cap off, whack it to your (or their) thigh, and count to 5. In an emergency situation it's occasionally other parties, with no experience or knowledge of these devices, who administer. The design decision was likely made for observed reasons.
- repiret 9y ago
  1. Auvi-Q is about 2"x3"x.5", and fits unobtrusively in my pocket. EpiPen is about 8" long, making it awkward to keep with you. For that reason alone I carry Auvi-Q. 2. Except you missed a step - you have to take off the cap AND the safety. I don't need an EpiPen to tell me how to use it, but if my son is anaphylaxing, I want a panicking 15 year old babysitter to have a device that is as fool proof as possible.
- cowsandmilk 9y ago
  > You literally just take the cap off, whack it to your (or their) thigh, and count to 5. In at least one study[1], admittedly funded by Sanofi, ~1/3 of people stuck the wrong end into their thing and ~1/2 didn't keep it in long enough. Just to emphasize on the second item, you said "count to 5" when the EpiPen instructions say 10 seconds. Only 35% of people completed all the steps correctly. [1] http://www.jaci-inpractice.org/article/S2213-2198(13)00125-6/fulltext http://www.jaci-inpractice.org/article/S2213-2198(13)00125-6...
  - pm215 9y ago
    > ~1/3 of people stuck the wrong end into their thing Ow...
- dboreham 9y ago
  Well, sure, but when greeting cards already talk to you, why not?? It isn't as if this adds much to the cost.
- isk517 9y ago
  Probably because of the good response people have had to defibrillators that walk you through the process when turned on.

maxerickson 9y ago

One factor is that "Adrenaclick" is not a generic EpiPen. It is a different branded epinephrine autoinjector, with generic versions available. The FDA regulates epinephrine autoinjectors so that a prescription for EpiPen must be filled with an injector that has the same operating instructions as EpiPen. Adrenaclick and generics do not have the same operating instructions as EpiPen. It's not a completely ridiculous regulatory decision, but it certainly factors into people not using the alternatives.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

taneq 9y ago

This 'Auvi-Q' thing... I don't get it. It's just a rectangular EpiPen. Oh wait, it talks to you. Why do you need an EpiPen to talk to you? You literally just take the cap off, whack it to your (or their) thigh, and count to 5.

endorphone 9y ago
You literally just take the cap off, whack it to your (or their) thigh, and count to 5. In an emergency situation it's occasionally other parties, with no experience or knowledge of these devices, who administer. The design decision was likely made for observed reasons.
repiret 9y ago
1. Auvi-Q is about 2"x3"x.5", and fits unobtrusively in my pocket. EpiPen is about 8" long, making it awkward to keep with you. For that reason alone I carry Auvi-Q. 2. Except you missed a step - you have to take off the cap AND the safety. I don't need an EpiPen to tell me how to use it, but if my son is anaphylaxing, I want a panicking 15 year old babysitter to have a device that is as fool proof as possible.
cowsandmilk 9y ago
> You literally just take the cap off, whack it to your (or their) thigh, and count to 5. In at least one study[1], admittedly funded by Sanofi, ~1/3 of people stuck the wrong end into their thing and ~1/2 didn't keep it in long enough. Just to emphasize on the second item, you said "count to 5" when the EpiPen instructions say 10 seconds. Only 35% of people completed all the steps correctly. [1] http://www.jaci-inpractice.org/article/S2213-2198(13)00125-6/fulltext http://www.jaci-inpractice.org/article/S2213-2198(13)00125-6...
- pm215 9y ago
  > ~1/3 of people stuck the wrong end into their thing Ow...
dboreham 9y ago
Well, sure, but when greeting cards already talk to you, why not?? It isn't as if this adds much to the cost.
isk517 9y ago
Probably because of the good response people have had to defibrillators that walk you through the process when turned on.