INO Health & Biotech Stock Guide
Preview Issue #3 - October 13th, 2016
BIOTECH, HEALTH & PHARMA NEWS
Mylan has been a whipping post as of late over its aggressive pricing increases regarding its EpiPen which uses an auto-injection of epinephrine to treat severe allergic reactions in primarily school age children. As a result, Mylan has ostensibly capitulated in the face of public and governmental scrutiny regarding its EpiPen pricing with implementing plans to offer a generic version and a $465 million settlement with the U.S. department of Justice to appease the public and improve its company image. The relentless congressional grilling on Capitol Hill and public backlash against Mylan and its CEO looks to have spurred the company into offering a generic and cheaper version of its EpiPen as well as providing more EpiPen via its access programs. However, congressional leaders continue to criticize Mylan over its alleged misrepresentation of profits and under paying Medicare in rebates. Congressional leaders stated that Mylan was dishonest when it incorrectly applied a statutory U.S. tax rate on its EpiPen revenue. The company is technically based ex-U.S. and thus pays a lower tax rate. Furthermore, the company has been accused of misclassifying the EpiPen to game the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. Mylan has been reportedly paying a 13% rebate that is reserved for generics while the brand name EpiPen should be at a minimum of a 21% rebate rate. Congressional leaders have vowed to recoup the difference over the past five years Medicaid has spent on EpiPens (total Medicaid spending from 2011 through 2015 was reported to be $960 million for the EpiPen). To this end, Mylan just settled a $465 million lawsuit regarding this egregious misclassification under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. This negative publicity along with continuous political attacks has been a major overhang impacting biotech stocks. This public and contentious battle with government officials and the general public doesn’t bode well for the entire healthcare cohort. With ongoing presidential debates and political posturing still occurring, this will likely continue to be a source of volatility. Buying opportunities may present themselves throughout the sector due to extraneous political rhetoric regarding the drug pricing debate and the entire drug supply chain dynamics.
