Mylan, the big pharmaceutical company that hiked the price of the life-saving allergy device, EpiPen, also gave one of their top CEOs a ridiculous raise during the same time period.
The company acquired the patent for EpiPen in 2007 and proceeded to raise the price over the next 8 years a total of 461 percent, from $56.64 to $317.82. During the same time period they also increased CEO Heather Bresch’s salary from $2,453,456 to $18,931,068, a 671 percent increase.
Milan also gave raises to their president, Rajiv Malik, whose salary was increased by 11 percent in 2015, and Chief Commercial Officer Anthony Mauro, whose salary was increased by 13.6 percent.
EpiPen, which is a device that provides emergency epinephrine to stop a potentially fatal allergic reaction, first saw its price increase in 2007 immediately after Mylan purchased the rights. The price was raised by 5 percent in 2008 and 2009, 19 percent at the end of 2009, and then in steady 10 percent increments from 2010 to 2013.
Then from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the second quarter of 2016 Mylan raised the prices of EpiPen 15 percent every other quarter. With this came rising stock prices, from $13.29 in 2007 to $47.59 in 2016.
Milan also stepped up their lobbying efforts, increasing their reported spending on lobbying from $270,000 to $1.2 million just in 2008. Their efforts must have paid off because in 2010 the FDA changed its recommendations that two EpiPens be sold in a package (rather than one) and that they be prescribed for all at-risk patients, not just those with confirmed allergies. In 2013 a law was passed to give block grants to states that require EpiPens be stocked in public schools.
Now a coalition of U.S. Senators, led by Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, have publicly penned a letter to Myland CEO Heather Bresch demanding justification for the dramatic price increases of EpiPen:
“This outrageous increase in the price of EpiPens is occurring at the same time that Mylan Pharmaceutical is exploiting a monopoly market advantage that has fallen into its lap. Patients all over the U.S. rely on these products, including my own daughter. Not only should the Judiciary Committee hold a hearing, the Federal Trade Commission should investigate these price increases immediately.”
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