Mylan, the maker of the EpiPen, announced on Thursday that it would offer 50 percent-discounts to some patients who depend on the life-saving allergy shot.
The move comes after the company received attention for jacking up the price of the device by 500-percent since 2009. Mylan executives have been met with widespread public ridicule as a result–criticism that has reverberated around Congressional offices amid the summer recess.
“As a mother, I can assure you, the last thing that we would ever want is no one to have their EpiPen due to price,” Mylan CEO Heather Bresch told CNBC. “Our response has been to take that immediate action of making sure everyone has an EpiPen.”
EpiPens used to cost just $57 dollars in 2007, before Mylan purchased the rights to the medicine. Today, a 2-pack of EpiPens runs for more than $600, in major retail markets. Although most users with insurance don’t pay the full-price of the drug, they have seen their out-of-pocket costs for EpiPens rise dramatically.
There are currently no brand name competitors offering the allergy shot, nor any generic alternatives.
Mylan said that it would offer coupons that could be worth up to $300 to patients who’ve seen their own costs to purchase the device increase. It also announced that it would broaden the number of individuals who qualify for assistance in purchasing EpiPens.
As NBC News reported, however, Mylan has also raised the prices of several other drugs besides the EpiPen. According to a Wells Fargo analysis, Mylan increased the prices of 24 of its products by 20 percent, and seven of its products by 100 percent, this year alone.
The company has been accused of using these hikes to finance exorbitant executive compensation packages. CEO Heather Bresch, for example, earned nearly $19 million in 2015—a doubling of her salary since 2013.
Bresch is also the daughter of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), which has created something of an awkward situation within the Democratic caucus of the Senate, as Manchin’s colleagues have lashed out at the drugmaker.
“While Americans are dying because they can’t afford Mylan’s egregious drug prices, the company’s CEO got a 671% raise to over $18 million,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted Wednesday.
“It’s not a mystery why drug companies raise their prices to obscene levels. Just look at the multi-million dollar paychecks their CEOs get,” he said in another tweet.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote a letter addressed to Bresch this week, demanding the company lower the price of EpiPens.
“I was both shocked and dismayed to discover that the price of your product, which has not been improved upon in any obvious or significant way, has skyrocketed by 480% since 2009,” he wrote.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) also revealed this week that her own daughter relies on EpiPen to prevent severe allergic reactions. She called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate if Mylan is violating anti-trust laws.
So, far, Sen. Manchin himself has remained quiet on the controversy. “Right now we don’t have any comment,” a spokesperson from his office told the Washington Post on Tuesday.
