Summary: Mark Baum and his company are planning a $3-7 EpiPen that would cost very little to produce, Baum believes this will be a better alternative than the $300 Epipen that Mylan charges. Epipen prices have risen 15 times since 2009, from $124 to $609. Baum states how epinephrine (ingredient used in Epipens) costs less than a big mac. He could easily produce these life saving allergy treatments for a low price and sell them for a low price. Baum says he has no desire to charge people $300 for a treatment that costs so little to make.
Analysis/Synthesis: In this article, written by Matt Egan, Baum also states he wants Imprimis to focus on quality of the product rather than quantity. Sadly this isn't the first time medication has been way over priced for corporation greed. In 2011 Makena was classified as an orphan drug so women who needed it to prevent premature birth would've had to pay $25,000 to be fully treated instead of the original $15 per injection. Therefore EpiPens aren't the first time a medicine's price had been raised impossibly high. I'm very glad to see that someone like Mark Baum is trying to make a difference in the lives of people who need EpiPens but can't always afford them. Seeing people struggle to pay for medicine they need is not a new thing in the US and I hope to see that change.
sources:
http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/30/investing/epipen-alternative-100-dollars/index.html
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-the-fda-can-single-handedly-stop-20160105-column.html
This is great news! I find this intriguing considering that epipen owns all rights to the product and for someone to create it cheaper seems rather difficult on the law enforcement side of things.
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