How To Get The New Generic Epipen For Just $9.99?

CVS, the US's largest drug-store chain, offers a cheaper, generic version of the EpiPen. Called Adrenaclick, this is an authorized auto-injector to dispense ephinephrine. A package of two pens of Adrenaclick costs $109.99.

The Huffington Post reports that the two-pack EpiPen costs $649.99 while a generic version of the two-pack EpiPen introduced by Mylan costs $339.99. The manufacturers of Adrenaclick - Impax Laboratories - are also offering a discount coupon worth $100 per pack for up to three packs to most people who qualify for it. Such people will be able to get their first three packs of Adrenaclick for just $9.99.

This drug price cut war is the result of the public outrage over rising prices of critical lifesaving medicines, and the fresh attacks made on it by Donald Trump.

It seems that the health care industry has begun to self-regulate itself. Some pharmaceutical companies have announced that their price increase on medication will be limited to be under 10 per cent. Om the other hand, some Medicaid programs have announced that only authorized patients will get coverage of epinephrine auto-injectors like Adrenaclick and EpiPen.

However, the US Food and Drug Administration warns that the different brands of epinephrine auto-injectors may not be therapeutically equivalent to each other - even if they administer the same active ingredients in the same dosage. EpiPen and Adrenaclick work a bit differently from each other. Hence, not all states allow the patients to make the switch. If doctors prescribe 'epinephrine auto-injector' instead of a specific brand name, patients will be able to buy the cheaper pen easily.

On the patient's request, CVS is also offering to reach out to his or her doctor and ask for permission to change the prescription as needed.

According the USA Today, the President-elect Donald Trump had recently attacked drug manufacturers over steep increases in life-saving medicines. "They're getting away with murder," Trump said on drug companies on January 11, 2017. The CVS had also been criticized for the 'absurdly high' rise in the price of EpiPen. The National Community Pharmacists Association had called for a Congressional hearing on investigating how the pharmacy benefit managers are in lieu with the drug makers over such price rises.

CVS owns more than 9,600 pharmacies and handles prescription drugs through more than 68,000 retail pharmacies. It is also into mail-order operations. Some experts think that the move to challenge Mylan will help CVS garner publicity for siding with the aggrieved customers and will also allow it to negotiate rebates and discounts from other pharmaceutical companies.