CVS Puts Out Generic Competitor To EpiPen At A 6th Of The Price
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Drug store chain CVS is now offering a competitor to EpiPen, a device for self-administering injectable medicine to stop a severe allergic reaction. The competitor will be one sixth the cost of an EpiPen.
Reaction has been favorable:
"Knowing that you can go right to like CVS and get something like that, that's amazing!" one woman said.
"People need their EpiPens, and they need to be able to afford them, so I think it's a great initiative of them to do that," another woman said.
The competitor is called Adrenaclick -- same medicine, different delivery device.
"The injector is where the patent is," explains Dr. James DeAngelo of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Associates. "There's a little more of handling that's required of the device than the EpiPen."
EpiPen, made by Mylan Pharmaceuticals, has been in the spotlight for escalating prices. A two-pack costs $650. A two-pack of Adrenaclick costs $110.
Commercially insured patients can get a coupon from the maker of Adrenaclick for a free copay and $100 off that will bring the price down to $9.99.
Adrenaclick has been on and off the market with different companies since 2010. Its availability at CVS is through a deal directly with the current manufacturer, Impax Laboratories.
"I don't like any one group cornering a particular market," Dr. DeAngelo admits, "but anything that can bring down the cost of epinephrine autoinjectors is probably a good thing."
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