Partners with Impax on reduced price for Adrenaclick generic

This past summer, Impax had spotlighted the affordability of its Adrenaclick authorized generic versus Mylan’s EpiPen.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — In the wake of the public outcry over pricing for Mylan’s EpiPen epinephrine auto-injector for anaphylaxis, CVS Health announced that it’s providing a low-cost alternative.

CVS said Thursday that Impax Laboratories’ authorized generic for the Adrenaclick epinephrine auto-injector is now available at all CVS Pharmacy drug stores at a cash price of $109.99 for a two-pack. That compares with a cash price of $649.99 for the branded EpiPen and $339.99 for the EpiPen authorized generic that Mylan launched last month.

“We recognized that there was an urgent need in the marketplace for a less expensive epinephrine auto-injector for patients with life-threatening allergies. Over the past year, nearly 150,000 people signed on to a petition asking for a lower cost epinephrine auto-injector option, and millions more were active in social media searching for a solution,” CVS Pharmacy president Helena Foulkes said in a statement.

“In order to address this challenge, we have partnered with Impax to purchase their epinephrine auto-injector at a price that is lower than similar brand or authorized generic epinephrine auto-injectors,” Foulkes explained. “We are passing these savings along to our customers and patients, making this product available at all CVS Pharmacy locations at the lowest cash price in the market.”

The $109.99 proce for Adrenaclick authorized generic two-pack applies to insured patients and cash-paying patients without insurance. CVS noted that the cost will benefit insured patients who have consumer-directed health plans and haven’t yet met their deductible for the year. Other price breaks for the Adrenaclick generic are available to qualifying patients via Impax’s coupon program, which provides a benefit of $100 per pack.

“We are thrilled to work with CVS Health to increase access to our low-cost generic Adrenaclick epinephrine auto-injector,” stated Douglas Boothe, president of Impax’s generics division. “Families need and deserve an affordable option to treat severe allergies.”

A Food and Drug Administration-approved device, Impax’s authorized generic of Adrenaclick has the same active ingredient as other epinephrine auto-injector devices.

Impax had spotlighted its generic epinephrine auto-injector in late August during the public furor over EpiPen pricing. In what Impax called an update, the company said it was providing additional information to patients, doctors and customers about its epinephrine auto-injector in 0.15-mg and 0.3-mg doses, an authorized generic of Amedra Pharmaceuticals’ Adrenaclick.

Mylan had announced its generic EpiPen amid a storm of complaints by consumers and public officials over a steep price hike for the product in recent years. EpiPen’s ease-of-use and reliability have made it an essential emergency treatment for anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction, and the product had been the only one of its kind available after Sanofi’s Auvi-Q was pulled from the market in 2015 due to dosing issues.

In late October, however, Auvi-Q developer Kaleo said it plans to reintroduce the Auvi-Q epinephrine auto-injector to the U.S. market in the first half of 2017. Back in February, Sanofi and Kaleo announced plans to terminate their licensing and development agreement, which returned Auvi-Q’s U.S. and Canadian rights to Kaleo and cleared the way for the company to reintroduce the product.