Dive Brief:
- With a congressional inquiry on its heels, Mylan officially became a target of a probe by the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office for its huge price jump for EpiPen, the anti-allergic auto-injector.
- Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says he’s looking into whether Mylan, which has offices in the state, acted in conflict with Anti-Trust laws and Medicaid rules. He has sought documents from the company, which say it is cooperating in the probe of the anti-allergic medication device.
- The West Virginia inquiry comes two weeks after the New York AG launched its own investigation, and before a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is scheduled to question the Mylan CEO on the matter on Wednesday.
Dive Insight:
In West Virginia, the AG’s office is examining whether Mylan violated its Medicaid program and also its Antitrust Act. Morrisey has asked a West Virginia court to enforce its subpoena for documents from Mylan, and the company said it is cooperating thoroughly, according to company spokeswoman.
"I have a statutory responsibility to investigate any potential anti-trust violation," Morrisey said in a prepared statement provided to Biopharma Dive. "Consumers lose when competition doesn’t flourish. My office owes it to consumers to be their watchdog and turn over every rock to ensure fair play."
Morrisey says he’s trying to determine whether Mylan failed to pay the state’s Medicaid program enough money because it tagged EpiPen as generic instead of the more costly branded price.
"Public reports show that Mylan was paying rebates at the significantly lower 'non-innovator' level rather than the 'innovator' level for its EpiPen, even though EpiPen is sold as a brand-name," Morrisey said. "Paying lower rebates than permitted by law subjects Mylan to a potential Medicaid fraud action under West Virginia law."
The AG also indicated that Mylan might have encroached on the state’s Antitrust Act when Mylan filed a lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceutical to stop it from making a generic competitor to EpiPen. Although, actions like these are common amongst the pharmaceutical industry, which is known for fiercely defending its intellectual property.
Although Morrisey indicated Mylan has not yet cooperated, a spokeswoman for the company said it has "been cooperating on a continuous basis by providing information in response to the AG’s inquiry."
Earlier this month, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said it has begun an investigation into Mylan for potential anti-competitive terms that may have been inserted into contracts with schools.
And today, Mylan CEO Heather Bresch is slated to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, whose bipartisan leadership said in a joint statement that it plans to "examine ways to encourage greater competition in the EpiPen market and to speed FDA’s approval of acceptable new generic" devices.
Bresch is the daughter of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, and her mother, Gayle, is also under fire for her role in pushing the EpiPens as a leader for the National Association of State Boards of Education, according to USA Today.
Mylan has been mired in controversy since epically raising the price of a pack of two EpiPens from less than $100 when it was acquired in 2007 to more than $600 currently. The EpiPen delivers a dose of epinephrine, an antidote to severe allergic reactions.
Amid the uproar of its seemingly astronomical price increases, Mylan said last month it would be issuing discounts, and also cut down the price of EpiPen in generic form, making the current price to consumers $300.
While customers may be somewhat relieved, Mylan is now seen as a symbol of greed, and investigators are probing different elements of the company’s actions to determine whether they have violated healthcare plan regulations or engaged in anti-competitive practices, and questionable actions in between.