NY Opens Probe Into EpiPen Sales To Schools

(RTTNews) - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has commenced an investigation into Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., (MYL), the maker of EpiPens, saying that the company may have inserted anticompetitive terms into its EpiPen sales contracts with numerous local school system.

Mylan's EpiPen is the predominant epinephrine autoinjector, a device and drug used for the emergency treatment of life-threatening allergic reactions, in the US market.

"No child's life should be put at risk because a parent, school, or healthcare provider cannot afford a simple, life-saving device because of a drug-maker's anti-competitive practices," Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. "If Mylan engaged in anti-competitive business practices, or violated antitrust laws with the intent and effect of limiting lower cost competition, we will hold them accountable.

"Allergy sufferers have enough concerns to worry about—the availability of life-saving medical treatment should not be one of them. I will bring the full resources of my office to this critical investigation."

The probe comes at a time when the company is facing a widespread outrage from lawmakers and the public after the company implemented sharp price increases for its EpiPen.

Mylan's subsidiary will launch the first generic to EpiPen Auto-Injector at a list price of $300 per generic EpiPen two-pack carton, which represents a discount of more than 50% to the Mylan list price, or wholesale acquisition cost of the branded medicine.