Mylan's profit margin on the EpiPen is 60 percent higher than the company reported to Congress last week while discussing a huge spike in prices for the lifesaving devices often used when someone has a severe allergic reaction, The Washington Post reported Monday.
Mylan CEO Heather Bresch included a statutory U.S. tax rate of 37.5 percent in the figures when testifying before Congress, when the actual tax rate paid by the Netherlands-headquartered company is closer to 7.5 percent and may even be less, the Post said.
Lawmakers were skeptical of the figures and called Mylan on the sleight of hand. The Wall Street Journal reported committee chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz said Mylan's EpiPen numbers “do not make sense without the definitions in here. It just feels like you’re not being candid and honest with Congress.”
Further questioning by the WSJ revealed that the actual profit for a pack of two EpiPens is actually around $160, rather than the $100 Mylan claimed.
Mylan began selling EpiPens in 2007 and has raised list prices 550 percent since then, with prices doubling just a few months earlier in 2016. A two-pack of Epi-pens now costs $608. Mylan sells about 4 million EpiPen two-packs each year.
Bresch told Congress that Mylan “never intended” for EpiPen prices to increase so much. The company has recently put out a generic version that costs $300 per two-pack to stem criticism for the steep price increases. Mylan also has increased copay assistance plans and made more people eligible for free prescriptions.
EpiPens last only 12 to 18 months before expiring, so they need to be replaced often even if they aren’t used.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.