House Oversight Committee Raises Heat on Mylan for EpiPen “Monopoly”

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is summoning Mylan CEO Heather Bresch to explain the company’s pricing practices for its EpiPen auto injector device.

The move follows other actions taken by four U.S. senators requesting information on the company’s price hikes for the emergency allergy auto-injector (IDDM, Aug. 29).

“Mylan has a virtual monopoly over the epinephrine auto-injector market,” an Aug. 29 letter to the CEO says. “While the medicine that actually stops an adverse reaction is remarkably cheap – only a few cents per dose – it is the delivery mechanism that is breaking the bank of Americans,” says the letter signed by Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings says.

The price for a two-pack of the epinephrine auto injector has increased to $600, a nearly 400-percent increase over the last decade.

The congressmen requested the company to provide within two weeks the following documents:

• Gross sales and net revenues for the EpiPen since the acquisition;
• A breakdown of expenses for manufacturing, purchase of API, marketing and advertising and research and development;
• Profits from the device for each year since the acquisition;
• Copies of federal and state lobbying disclosure forms;
• Copies of all contracts regarding manufacturing and distribution;
• Patient assistance programs; and
• Reimbursements received under federal healthcare programs. — Tamra Sami