Mylan CEO acknowledges company could have anticipated consumer concern over price hike

An advance copy of her remarks suggests Mylan CEO Heather Bresch plans to defend the price hike for the company's EpiPen before Congress Wednesday. However, Ms. Bresch will acknowledge that the drugmaker could have anticipated consumer distress over the significantly higher price, according to STAT.

"Looking back, I wish we had better anticipated the magnitude and acceleration of the rising financial issues for a growing minority of patients who may have ended up paying the [list price] or more," Heather Bresch plans to say. "We never intended this."

Ms. Bresch will testify Wednesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform over the EpiPren price increase. Mylan recently raised the price for a two-pack of EpiPens to $608 — which administer life-saving shots of epinephrine to stop allergic reactions — a nearly 450 percent increase since 2007.

The majority of Ms. Bresch's testimony will focus on Mylan's efforts to increase access to EpiPens. For instance, the company gave hundreds of thousands to schools for free and is working on increasing the devices' shelf life so they don't need to be replaced every year if they go unused.

"I hope these facts will be considered in the larger discussion about the price," Ms. Bresch plans to say, according to the advanced copy of her remarks. "Price and access exist in a balance, and we believe we have struck that balance."

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