Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New York AG Launches Antitrust Probe Into EpiPen Maker's School Contracts
The Wall Street Journal: New York Investigating Mylan Over EpiPen School Contracts
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Tuesday that his office was investigating Mylan NV over potentially anticompetitive EpiPen emergency allergy treatment contracts with schools. The move comes amid public outrage over Mylan’s EpiPen price increases in recent years. Mr. Schneiderman said he had launched an antitrust investigation into Mylan and a preliminary review suggests that Mylan “may have inserted potentially anticompetitive terms into its EpiPen sales contracts with numerous local school systems.” (Hufford, 9/6)
The Associated Press: New York’s Attorney General Investigates EpiPen Manufacturer
“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,” Schneiderman said. “Allergy sufferers have enough concerns to worry about. The availability of life-saving medical treatment should not be one of them.” (Virtanen, 9/6)
Bloomberg: Mylan’s EpiPen School Sales Trigger N.Y. Antitrust Probe
The investigation will be broad, and a key focus will be whether Mylan locked schools into noncompetitive contracts in order to purchase the EpiPens at an affordable price, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the details aren’t public (Larson and Hopkins, 9/6)
CNN Money: EpiPen Maker Mylan's School Program Draws Anti-Trust Scrutiny
Mylan's EpiPen4Schools program gives free injectors to about 65,000 schools nationwide, and the company issued a statement Tuesday denying the claims its contracts included non-compete agreements. "There are no purchase requirements for participation in the program, nor have there ever been to receive free EpiPen Auto-Injectors," the company said. (Wattles, 9/6)
The Hill: NY Launches Probe Into EpiPen Maker
Senate Democrats on Tuesday urged federal regulators to probe whether Mylan violated antitrust laws when it allegedly required schools to sign noncompete contracts. (Hensch, 9/6)
Stat: EpiPen Maker Faces Two Potential Class Action Lawsuits
Mylan Pharmaceuticals is facing two lawsuits relating to its pricing of EpiPen treatments for life-threatening anaphylactic shock. One suit, filed Tuesday in an Ohio county court, alleges that the company’s price increases — which brought the list price up to about $600 for two EpiPens — violated the state’s consumer protection law. (Swetlitz, 9/6)
The CT Mirror: Blumenthal Calls For EpiPen Antitrust Probe
Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Tuesday asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether EpiPen manufacturer Mylan broke antitrust laws when it gave away or sold its product at discounted prices to schools. (Radelat, 9/6)
Meanwhile, another company is looking to develop an inhalable version of the allergy medicine —
Los Angeles Times: MannKind Developing Inhalable Epinephrine To Challenge Mylan's EpiPen
A Valencia drugmaker that has tried to convince diabetics to inhale rather than inject their insulin is working on a product that will make a similar pitch to a new group of patients: severe allergy sufferers who rely on Mylan Pharmaceuticals’ pricey EpiPen. Even as it struggles to ramp up sales of its Afrezza inhalable insulin, MannKind Corp. is now in the early stages of developing an inhalable form of epinephrine that aims to take market share from the injectable version at the center of a storm over drug pricing. (Koren, 9/6)
