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Industry Insiders Estimate EpiPen Costs No More Than $30

Mylan gets $274 from each sale, but must use that money to pay for costs, according to the company

Mylan says middlemen and suppliers have forced them to jack up the prices on EpiPens by hundreds of dollars, but two industry insiders say the company pays no more than $30 per device, NBC News reports.

Some patients are forced to pay a little over $600 out of pocket for a two-pack of the lifesaving medication. Mylan sparked outrage last month when it was revealed the company had hiked up costs for the drug by over 400 percent since it acquired the brand.

Kevin Deane, a partner with the PA Consulting Group, a global technology and design firm that sold a drug delivery technology company to Pfizer in 2004, told NBC News that the base components for each EpiPen, including the plastic cap, tube and needle, might cost between $2 to $4 to purchase. Pharmacists contacted by NBC estimate that the epinephrine inside costs less than $1.

Mylan gets $274 from each sale, but must use that money to pay for costs, according to the company and Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, in a recent CNBC interview. Mylan didn't respond to an NBC News request to itemize its costs, but a Mylan spokesperson told NBC that "all of those costs would clearly make the $274 number significantly lower."

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