PITTSBURGH _ Concerns over the soaring cost of Mylan's EpiPen, plus increased competition, appear to have taken a toll on sales of the brand-name allergy shot.
Prescriptions for EpiPen alternatives surged to 28.9 percent of the market in February, up from 5.3 percent in December, according to a report by medical records and billing company Athenahealth in Watertown, Mass.
Put another way, the brand-name product's market share has fallen from around 95 percent to around 71 percent in February, the report said.
Athenahealth said it analyzed some 60,000 prescriptions for epinephrine auto-injectors written nationwide between January 2016 and February 2017. EpiPen held a 95.2 percent share in January 2016, Athenahealth said.
Mylan, which is run from executive offices outside Pittsburgh, did not respond to emails seeking comment.
Alternatives to the EpiPen include Kaleo's Auvi-Q, released in mid-February; the generic Adrenaclick made by Impax Laboratories; and Mylan's own generic version, which it began selling in December at half the list price of the roughly $600 EpiPen two-pack.
In January, CVS Pharmacy announced it was offering the generic Adrenaclik at $109.99 per pack, and that coupons could drop the out-of-pocket cost for patients to $10.
The Auvi-Q has a much higher list price than the EpiPen at $4,500, but the manufacturer makes it available to consumers covered by insurance at no cost.
Patients began revolting against the EpiPen last summer after Mylan raised the price of the device some 500 percent in recent years.
