(Bloomberg) — Mylan NV took some steps to alleviate patients' cost burden for its $600 EpiPen emergency allergy shots following pressure from politicians including presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who called past price increases "outrageous" on Wednesday.
In response to the intense political pressure of the past few days, Mylan moved Thursday to expand assistance programs that help patients with high out-of-pocket expenses — but didn't go as far as cutting the treatment's list price. Mylan has been under fire for increasing the price to more than $600 for a two-pack, from $57 for a single pen in 2007.
Chief Executive Officer Heather Bresch, the daughter of Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, was quick to react to the mounting political scrutiny, days after lawmakers started to express outrage about EpiPen's 400 percent price hike and called for investigations. The criticisms, topped by Democratic nominee Clinton's statement on Wednesday, had sent the shares down 11 percent in just three days.
The stock pared some of the losses Thursday, and was up 3.7 percent to $44.73 at 9:40 a.m. New York time.
Mylan will expand existing programs to help people with high out-of-pocket expenses, according to a statement Thursday. By using a savings card, patients will get as much as $300 toward their EpiPen 2-Pak, which should effectively reduce costs by 50 percent for those who were previously paying the full list price. The drugmaker is also doubling eligibility for its patient assistance program so now a family of four that makes up to $97,200 would not have to pay for the EpiPen.
"We recognize the significant burden on patients from continued, rising insurance premiums and being forced increasingly to pay the full list price for medicines at the pharmacy counter," Mylan's Bresch said in a statement. "Price is only one part of the problem that we are addressing with today's actions. All involved must also take steps to help meaningfully address the U.S. healthcare crisis."
