MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Following criticism over pricing practices of its auto injection allergy drug, Mylan has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and federal regulators.
The price of Mylan’s EpiPen Auto-Injector including the EpiPen Jr. has increased more than 500 percent in nine years. Mylan CEO Heather Bresch was grilled by tyhe House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Capitol Hill last month over the price hike that coincided with her own salary increase that went up at a similar rate during the same time period.
Mylan monopolizes the market on the life saving drug that is not produced and distributed by a competitor.
The company, with a major manufacturing plant in Morgantown, will settle for $465 million for the purposes of the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.
It has been argued that Mylan’s EpiPen Auto-Injector wasn’t properly classified with the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services which kept the company from paying higher rebates to Medicaid.
The settlement announced Friday, Oct. 7 includes terms that “do not provide for any wrongdoing on the part of Mylan Inc.”
After national and international attention of Mylan’s pricing practices, the company also announced it will launch a generic version of the EpiPen.