Scrutiny of the high list price of the drug EpiPen, used for the emergency treatment of certain allergic reactions, exposed some of the craziness and inefficiency in how drugs are priced. But it also reveals problems with how certain medicines are developed.
Drugs like EpiPen fall into a category of products that one might classify as complex generic medicines. As widely noted, the active ingredient in the EpiPen is a very old drug – epinephrine. What makes the EpiPen unique is its delivery vehicle – an auto-injector that’s packaged in a convenient, pen-like device. The product’s key attribute is its ability to reliably deliver accurate doses of the essential medicine.
