History and low cost options to Epipen by Carl Weil, MFAWM

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Polish, American and Japanese scientists all independently pioneered Epinephrine from 1895 to 1896 with extracting it from adrenalin.
In the 1970s, auto injectors were developed for the military for treatment of the effects of chemical warfare.
Sheldon Kaplan first invented the Combo Pen, an auto-injector filled with nerve gas antidote, for the U.S military in the 1970s. He never collected a penny in royalties.
The easy for solider to use Auto injector was approved by the FDA to carry Epi for medical use. Literally the exact same device used by the army was FDA approved in 1987. By then, it was owned by a company called Meridian Medical Technologies.
The most economical convenient delivery was a two dose syringe kit called Anaguard or Anakit by Baxter drug.
Baxter around 2000 started work on an auto injector 2 shot device which was the best design at half the size of epi pen with 2 doses. It was a challenge to the tradition of the epi pen and bucking tradition is difficult “don’t confuse me with the facts, I don’t want change, my mind is made up“ was the refrain from many docs and Twinject failed. It was sold 3 times and today is back as Adrenaclick with the 2nd shot disabled and sold as an Epi Generic. As of Sept 2016 it is selling at $144 for 2 compared to up to $800 for EpiPen twin pack. Ask your Doc to prescribe Adrenaclick Epi Generic and save money big time. At the end of the week of Sept 19 WMO will release a new Free EPI Course. This will go into Anaphylaxis assessment and treatment. It will help you discuss getting prescriptions with your Doctor.  The course will show you how to be prepared with EPI for $10 as well.

Look for it at http://wildernessmedicine.com/epi-course.

The following are recent news items regarding EPI and its delivery.

Business  NBC News, Aug 23 2016, 7:33 pm ET
Mylan CEO's Pay Rose Over 600 Percent as EpiPen Price Rose 400 Percent
sales of the life-saving drug rose to provide 40 percent of the company's operating profits in 2014, as Bloomberg reported, salaries for other Mylan executives also went up. In 2015, President Rajiv Malik's base pay increased 11.1 percent to $1 million, and Chief Commercial Officer Anthony Mauro saw his jump 13.6 percent to $625,000.

www.cnbc.com CNBC
Aug 23, 2016 - ... $461.00 $608.61 EpiPen Price 05/2011 7/2012 7/2013 5/2014 5/2015 5/2016 $100 $200 ... The EpiPen sold for $100 in 2008. ... an increasing number of people and families
Wall Street Journal By Jonathan D. Rockoff  Updated Aug. 26, 2016 1:22 a.m. ET Mylan NV raced Thursday to counter a firestorm of criticism over its pricing of lifesaving EpiPens, saying it would help more patients cover their out-of-pocket costs. But the drug maker didn’t lower the list price, and its stranglehold on the market means it is unlikely to face competitive pressure to do so.
EpiPen, whose list price has climbed nearly 550% over eight years, dominates the more than $1 billion market to treat serious allergic reactions because of Mylan’s effective marketing and lobbying, aggressive defense of its turf and the relatively high costs of manufacturing such sterile injections, analysts say.
Wall Street Journal By Mark Maremont   Updated Sept. 13, 2016 2:52 p.m. ET
Top managers at Mylan [EPIPEN] had the 2nd highest pay of any us drug or biotech firm over the last 5 years even though Mylan is a relative small player

EpiPen produced 23% of Mylan’s operating income last year and 12% of its revenue, according to an estimate by Ronny Gal, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
businessinsider.com/the-history-of-the-epipen-and-epinephrine-2016-8/#in-the-1970s-sheldon-kaplan-a-biomechanical-engineer-unknowingly-invented-the-ultimate-way-to-self-inject-epinephrine-at-first-his-device-called-the-combopen-was-used-by-the-military-to-protect-soldiers-in-the-event-of-chemical-warfare-the-military-needed-a-device-that-wouldnt-react-with-the-drug-inside-and-that-could-be-easy-to-use-in-emergency-situations-5
The drug and device combo we now know as an EpiPen was first approved by the FDA in 1987. By then, it was owned by a company called Meridian Medical Technologies.

Wall street journal Jonathan D. Rockoff Aug. 24, 2016 5:40 p.m. ET
EpiPen is Mylan’s top-selling product, generating more than $1 billion of the company’s $9.5 billion total revenues last year. Last year, more than 3.6 million prescriptions were written, according to IMS Health. Nearly 70% of the prescriptions are for commercially insured patients, Mylan said.
Sept 14 -2016  http://www.goodrx.com/adrenaclick $144.62 at Wal-Mart 2 pack11
ARTICLE
After Outcry, Drug maker Plans Generic EpiPen

Mylan has announced a generic version of the allergy drug dispenser, which will sell at half the price of the branded product.

Questex Fierce Pharma   by Carly Helfand | Mar 1, 2016 10:39am
Mylan to up its price on the med, which climbed by 222% between 2007 and 2014.
November[ 2015], Sanofi's ($SNY) Auvi-Q--the first real competition to EpiPen in years--ran into trouble, with an injector fault and hefty recall prompting the French drugmaker to pull it from the marketplace. Then, last week, PDL BioPharma CEO John McLaughlin told investors that his company had received word that Sanofi was bailing on its marketing deal for the product altogether, putting the drug's future in limbo.

Teva Drug Company applied for auto injector epi approval and Mylan objected because they said it would  be dangerous to the public as it did not look and operate like EpiPen - This effectively shut down a possible much cheaper completion.

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