Since gaining entry into the business domains, the marketing potential of EpiPens has skyrocketed. This auto-injector product offers itself as an inexpensive adrenaline-laden drug that can be administered as a syringe in treating life-threatening anaphylactic shocks. At least, it has been that way when Mylan Company started selling EpiPens.
Then, just recently, the price in the U.S. soared from $100 to $600 for a couple of packs.
The development received massive online petitions. At one point, a respondent has gained 80,000 signatures for Mylan to lower the bill.
Even Sarah Jessica Parker of the "Sex and the City" fame has chimed in, pointing out that there is a need to consider the millions of people who are dependent on the device.
The actress has previously endorsed EpiPens when she spoke about her son's peanut allergy.
This week, however, the gravity of the situation has taken its toll when the subject became an election issue.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has voiced out her concern, saying that a price hike cannot be justified considering that this product can be the difference between life and death.
It is understandable for politics to meddle on the issue considering that Heather Bresch, Mylan's CEO, is a daughter of West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.
The CEO said that the problem of drug prices isn't with Mylan or even the pharmaceutical industry, but instead with the health care system that often requires consumers to pay out-of-pocket for prescription medications in addition to insurance premiums.
She added that the process has been worsened by the increase in the number of high-deductible health plans, thus, pushing patients to pay the full retail fees.
When Mylan bought the rights to EpiPen in 2008, the company has launched an aggressive marketing and awareness campaign. The effort has paid off as the auto-injector was introduced as a must-have for anyone with allergy.
In 2010, the manufacturing firm has further boosted its sales when the Food and Drug Administration recommended that patients should have access to two injectors in case the first does not work.
