Teva hopes generic EpiPen will sell well in U.S. market
An EpiPen, or epinephrine auto-injector, is a medication used to treat serious allergic reactions in emergencies.
By YVETTE J. DEANEEpiPen auto-injection epinephrine pens manufactured by Mylan NV pharmaceutical company for use by severe allergy sufferers are seen in Washington, U.S. August 24, 2016. (photo credit: JIM BOURG / REUTERS)
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. predicted that by the end of 2019 its generic version of the Mylan EpiPen will conquer a quarter of the US market, Teva CEO Kåre Schultz said on Tuesday, according to the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS).“When the device’s approval was announced last year, analysts suggested it could add $250 million to Teva’s annual revenue and 4-6 cents per share in earnings, providing a welcome lift for a company that has fired thousands of employees and worked to reduce its debt load to $27 billion from $35 billion,” Reuters reported.An EpiPen, or epinephrine auto-injector, is a medication used to treat serious allergic reactions in emergencies.Mylan who has owned the rights since 2007, increasingly raised the price for the product, hiking the product to more than 500% over a decade, according to Business Insider.After much backlash, Mylan created a generic version of their product that costs some USD $300. While other similar devices exist, none of the them have captured the market like Mylan, which held 50% of the market as of 2018, according to the same report. The US Food and Drug Administration approved Teva's version of the product in August 2018.Shultz believes that by the end of 2020, Teva could also capture 50% of the market, JNS reported.
