By JAKE ZUCKERMAN
Charleston Gazette-Mail
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The CEO of Mylan pharmaceuticals painted a picture of a company that provides affordable generic medicine for the world in a speech Thursday, a depiction at odds with several legal complaints lodged against the company for price fixing.
Heather Bresch, who also is the daughter of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., spoke at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s 81st Annual Meeting & Business Summit, telling Mylan’s origin story, which starts in White Sulphur Springs itself.
While Bresch told the story of how hard work, grit and a people-first philosophy made Mylan the company it is, she did not mention a widely reported scandal regarding charging hundreds of dollars for its EpiPen allergy shots, or an antitrust violation lawsuit against Mylan and other companies, of which West Virginia has joined.
“We’ve spent our time making sure that we can deliver on that promise that started, as I said, right here, over 55 years ago, which was to provide access to affordable medicine,” Bresch said.
After the speech, Bresch declined an interview request for this report.
Mylan first acquired rights to sell the EpiPen in 2007 and started selling it around $50 per shot. That sale price increased to more than $600 for a two-pack by 2016.
Additionally, in May 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General issued a report stating Mylan misclassified the EpiPen as a generic drug, rather than a brand-name one, which earned it $1.27 billion in federal Medicaid reimbursements between 2006 and 2016.
Bloomberg reported in August the company paid out $465 million to settle the matter, leading to an outcry of overly soft treatment from federal lawmakers.
Legal issues aside, Bresch said the company’s goal is to provide affordable health care to as many people as it can.
“Our mission in wanting to provide access to the world’s 7 billion people is real,” she said. “Yes, it’s audacious, yes it’s big, but it’s who we are.”
Though she did not take questions from the audience or a reporter after the event, Bresch stressed the importance of telling a story for yourself.
“I also learned the hard way that if you don’t tell your story, someone else will and you’re probably not going to like it,” she said. “Our world today often doesn’t let the facts get in the way of a good story or good headline. We’re too quick to judge, too quick to read a headline and call it truth.”
Mylan sponsored, in part, the business summit.
Despite its controversy since 2016, Mylan is a major economic driver in the state and U.S. According to figures Bresch shared in her speech, the company’s site in Morgantown produces more than 20 billion tablets and capsules annually, employing more than 3,500 there.
Additionally, she said Mylan fills nearly one in every 13 prescriptions in the U.S. and employs more than 35,000 people in total, driving in $12 billion in revenue.
All told, she said the company’s sale of generic drugs has saved consumers trillions of dollars.
“We’ve saved trillions and trillions of dollars in this country, and we’ve done that by knowing that healthcare and medicine is a right, it’s not a privilege, and everyone needs access to healthcare,” she said.
Reach Jake Zuckerman at [email protected], 304-348-4814 or follow @jake_zuckerman on Twitter.
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