MYL Mylan NV

By Anne Steele 

A top U.S. health insurer has dropped its coverage of Mylan NV's EpiPen and switched to its generic alternative, following public outrage over sharp price increases for the lifesaving drug.

Cigna Corp. swapped its coverage of the $600 EpiPen for Mylan's half-priced generic version, according to a document outlining Cigna's pharmacy benefit manager's prescription drug changes for 2017.

Mylan's generic version of the epinephrine auto-injector pen was launched in December and has the same drug formulation and device functionality as the original -- a product that has been on the market for nearly 30 years -- and is administered in the same way.

Mylan took heat this summer for its price increases on EpiPen -- the list price since 2007 had climbed nearly 550% from about $94, according to data from Truven Health Analytics -- and in August said it would begin selling the generic product for a price of $300 for two injection pens, compared with a list price of about $609 for its branded EpiPen product.

A Mylan spokeswoman said Cigna's move was expected. "These changes were anticipated and are why we anticipate successful generic utilization," she said.

A spokesman for Express Scripts Holding Co., the largest administrator of prescription-drug programs for insurers, on Thursday said EpiPen continues to be on its list of preferred drugs, and said it is evaluating the authorized generic.

Shares of Mylan declined 2.4% to $36.40 in morning trading.

Write to Anne Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 12, 2017 12:34 ET (17:34 GMT)

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