Teva aims for 25% of U.S. EpiPen market by 2020

Teva (NYSE:TEVA) expects its generic EpiPen auto-injector to claim 25% of the U.S. market by the end of this year, according to a report from Seeking Alpha.

For years, Mylan‘s (NSDQ:MYL) brand-name emergency allergy device has dominated the markets. But the company faced widespread criticism in 2016 when reports revealed that Mylan hiked the price of the EpiPen by nearly 500% since 2007. In response, Mylan launched its own EpiPen generic for roughly $300.

When Teva launched its generic auto-injector in November, it said it would price the product in line with Mylan’s EpiPen generic.

Teva listing its device at the same price as Mylan’s generic sparked concern among some patient advocates and healthcare professionals. When the FDA first approved Teva’s generic EpiPen, the agency noted that boosting competition with generics ultimately helps make the product more accessible to a general population.

FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb reportedly issued a statement commenting on Teva’s pricing, writing that the FDA “cannot control commercial decisions on pricing” and that “we have found that having three or more generic competitors brings prices down more sharply than with only one or two generic competitors.”

Teva said this week that the company is already selling its EpiPen generic for adults and plans to begin supplying a junior version for children within 3-4 months, according to Seeking Alpha.

Want to stay on top of DDBN content? Sign up for our e-mail newsletter for a weekly dose of drug-device news.