Here’s an example:
High-profile examples of authorized generics include Mylan’s cheaper form of its EpiPen, a life-saving epinephrine autoinjector that curbs deadly allergic reactions. In 2016, under political and public pressure to lower drug prices, Mylan introduced the authorized generic of EpiPen priced at $300 for a two-pack. That’s half the price of a two-pack of the brand-name version, which has a list price of around $600. But it’s still a staggering hike from EpiPen’s original cost of around $50 per injector in 2007. That year, Mylan bought the rights to EpiPen and then raised the price more than 400% in the years that followed. The authorized generic is essentially triple the price of what two injectors used to cost.
Got that? The original cost was $50 per.
So, how do they get away with it?
"It’s a parlor trick," the executive added. "They’re bending to political pressure, but are they taking any money out of the system? They’re not."
And, as others have noted, the price is still wildly inflated. A vial of brand-name Humalog has a list price of $55 in Germany, for instance. In 2001—before Lilly began hiking the price—the list price for a vial of Humalog in the US was $35.
A whole lot more @ Big Pharma is using faux generics to keep drug prices high, critics say
