New Injector of Epinephrine

The EpiPen® has long been the standard prescription for patients who may suffer from anaphylaxis due to food insect and other allergies.

Several years ago a new device for delivering epinephrine came out, the Twinject®. The advantage of this device was that each unit contained two doses. Patients have long been cautioned that epinephrine doses only last 15-20 minutes, so Twinject touted its advantage as giving the patient an additional back-up dose and more time to seek treatment.

Sciele Pharmaceuticals is soon releasing a new epinephrine device called Adrenaclik. It, like the Epipen, is a single dose injector. Actually it looks much like the EpiPen and the instructions for use are similar, although with the Adrenaclik, two gray caps need to be pulled off from either end, rather than one on the Epipen.

I wonder if we will see more of these auto-injectors? I wonder if that means the price will come down? It's pretty expensive to have several on-hand, isn't it? I did find documentation that states the EpiPen patent doesn't expire until Sept. 2025. I don't understand all the legalese on patents and generic drugs. Anyone else?

Posted in: anaphylaxis,auto-injector,epinephrine,EpiPen,medicine for food allergies