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So Mylan is more evil than Satan's pet vulture for hiking the price of EpiPen to $600, and the good guys just released a new version of their device for $4500?

So Mylan is more evil than Satan's pet vulture for hiking the price of EpiPen to $600, and the good guys just released a new version of their device for $4500? Or am I reading TFA wrong?

quantumhobbit 9y ago
Yeah I don't understand the $4500 price. Is that per dose? Or is it some sort of reusable device? Either way it is hard to see that being a viable competitor.
- 086421357909764 9y ago
  I think the argument here is that they were forced to sell the competing product to a new vendor (due to stifled competition) whom are now pricing at $4500, which they weren't.
- epmaybe 9y ago
  It's for 2 pens I believe, last time I checked on their website. The company is trying to get insurance to cover the costs, so cost for you wouldn't technically change, but it just increases healthcare costs all around for no reason other than profit.
maxerickson 9y ago
You are imagining any praise you see for the $4500 device.
- 086421357909764 9y ago
  I think the argument here is that they were forced to sell the competing product to a new vendor (due to stifled competition) whom are now pricing at $4500, which they weren't.
totalrobe 9y ago
You are reading this wrong. Sanofi, the company that filed the lawsuit, had pricing in line with EpiPen: "In 2013, Sanofi began selling Auvi-Q, which works to quell life-threatening allergic reactions, just as EpiPen does. Sanofi priced Auvi-Q on equal footing with EpiPen. And, initially, Sanofi claims it showed promise of gaining market share and providing real competition to EpiPen, which at the time had more than 99 percent of the market, according to Mylan. But that all changed when Mylan began using dirty tactics, Sanofi alleges." Looks like Sanofi sold the product to another company - the $4500 number is a price from the company Kaléo. "In 2015, Sanofi pulled Auvi-Q following quality control issues. The device has since been put back on the market by another pharmaceutical company, Kaléo. The list price of the newly released Auvi-Q is set at $4,500."
- yaakov34 9y ago
  Sorry, still not seeing the good-and-evil story here. Look at the graph here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2016/10/26/epipen-competitor-auvi-q-to-return-to-market-promising-lower-costs-for-patients/#1ac4ed3d76df https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2016/10/26/epipen... (possibly what you meant by prices in line with EpiPen) - Sanofi was matching the price increases of EpiPen dollar for dollar for years, and was always a little bit more expensive. Then it went away from the market for some kind of quality control problem, and returned as a $4500 device manufactured by another company (but with a weird pricing scheme which supposedly lets anyone who needs it to buy it for low out-of-pocket costs). Honestly that graph looks like both companies conspiring to corner the market together, if anything; but who knows with the insane prices and regulations of healthcare.
  - totalrobe 9y ago
    I am not saying either one is good or evil here, just commenting that the $4500 device is not super relevant to the actual Sanofi lawsuit. Obviously Sanofi should have been able to massively undercut the Mylan price if there truly was xxx% profit margin built in, so it is not really apparent why they didn't do that.
    - 9y ago

So Mylan is more evil than Satan's pet vulture for hiking the price of EpiPen to $600, and the good guys just released a new version of their device for $4500? Or am I reading TFA wrong?

quantumhobbit 9y ago

Yeah I don't understand the $4500 price. Is that per dose? Or is it some sort of reusable device? Either way it is hard to see that being a viable competitor.

086421357909764 9y ago
I think the argument here is that they were forced to sell the competing product to a new vendor (due to stifled competition) whom are now pricing at $4500, which they weren't.
epmaybe 9y ago
It's for 2 pens I believe, last time I checked on their website. The company is trying to get insurance to cover the costs, so cost for you wouldn't technically change, but it just increases healthcare costs all around for no reason other than profit.

maxerickson 9y ago

You are imagining any praise you see for the $4500 device.

086421357909764 9y ago
I think the argument here is that they were forced to sell the competing product to a new vendor (due to stifled competition) whom are now pricing at $4500, which they weren't.

totalrobe 9y ago

You are reading this wrong. Sanofi, the company that filed the lawsuit, had pricing in line with EpiPen: "In 2013, Sanofi began selling Auvi-Q, which works to quell life-threatening allergic reactions, just as EpiPen does. Sanofi priced Auvi-Q on equal footing with EpiPen. And, initially, Sanofi claims it showed promise of gaining market share and providing real competition to EpiPen, which at the time had more than 99 percent of the market, according to Mylan. But that all changed when Mylan began using dirty tactics, Sanofi alleges." Looks like Sanofi sold the product to another company - the $4500 number is a price from the company Kaléo. "In 2015, Sanofi pulled Auvi-Q following quality control issues. The device has since been put back on the market by another pharmaceutical company, Kaléo. The list price of the newly released Auvi-Q is set at $4,500."

yaakov34 9y ago
Sorry, still not seeing the good-and-evil story here. Look at the graph here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2016/10/26/epipen-competitor-auvi-q-to-return-to-market-promising-lower-costs-for-patients/#1ac4ed3d76df https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2016/10/26/epipen... (possibly what you meant by prices in line with EpiPen) - Sanofi was matching the price increases of EpiPen dollar for dollar for years, and was always a little bit more expensive. Then it went away from the market for some kind of quality control problem, and returned as a $4500 device manufactured by another company (but with a weird pricing scheme which supposedly lets anyone who needs it to buy it for low out-of-pocket costs). Honestly that graph looks like both companies conspiring to corner the market together, if anything; but who knows with the insane prices and regulations of healthcare.
- totalrobe 9y ago
  I am not saying either one is good or evil here, just commenting that the $4500 device is not super relevant to the actual Sanofi lawsuit. Obviously Sanofi should have been able to massively undercut the Mylan price if there truly was xxx% profit margin built in, so it is not really apparent why they didn't do that.
  - 9y ago