As the rate of overdoses has increased, so too has the price of the antidote.
Naloxone — originally released under the brand name Narcan — entered the market in 1971. Now, the drug is manufactured as several generic brands and can be administered through new delivery systems. Hospira, acquired by Pfizer in 2015, makes a generic form of the drug that rose in price from less than $1 per milliliter vial in 2005 to more than $15 in 2014. Newer delivery systems can range in price from $125 for two doses to as much as $3,750, according to CNBC.
This story is not unique to naloxone. The pricing trajectory of Mylan's EpiPen provides a comparable look at how generic drug prices can surge partially due to updated delivery systems.
Evzio, manufactured by Kaleo Pharma, is a naloxone delivery device about the size of a deck of cards. It, like the EpiPen, uses auto-injectors to deliver the drug. Evzio also gives users verbal instructions as they administer naloxone. Evzio's $3,750 list price for two auto-injectors marks a 550 percent increase since the product was introduced in 2014, according CNBC, citing data from Truven Analytics.
"We call it the Courvoisier of the overdose injector," Dan Bigg, director of the Chicago Recovery Alliance, a group that distributes naloxone, told CNBC.
While the delivery system offers enhanced convenience when compared to using multiple vials and a syringe, some experts have called into the question the validity of its substantial cost.
Differences in insurance coverage mean some patients are forced to pay for a greater percentage of their medicines. When EpiPen's prices soared price, patients without insurance or with high-deductible plans had to fork over more out-of-pocket cash at the pharmacy.
"In order to be able to raise your price on an entire population 20 to 30 percent, you want to make sure that the population who cannot pay for this is insulated," Ronny Gal, a biopharmaceuticals analyst with New York City-based Bernstein Research told CNBC. "The drug industry is finding channels to pay for people who cannot afford it so they can raise prices on the people who can."
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