Dr. Douglas McMahon is among several millions of people who relies on epinephrine to counter his allergic reactions. The medicine's price has inflated in recent years prompting nationwide outrage.
Currently, a double pack of EpiPen is being sold at a ridiculous price of $600 by Mylan, the company manufacturing the device. In 2007, that price stood only at a cost of $57.
Dr. McMahon said that Mylan has since deviated from patient needs and is now catering to investors instead. Because of this, he has developed a similar device that will bring the EpiPen's cost back to $50.
The physician started toying with idea years ago inside his lab and eventually created the cheaper alternative, which he calls AllergyStop.
"By chance I came to realize how inexpensive the parts were, including the medicine, and I realized we can sell it to patients for a very reasonable cost," McMahon said.
However, the doctor is in need of serious fund to push the project forward. Last month, he started an Indiegogo page to help him reach his goal but the funding has been slow.
McMahon also needs to take his product through "human factor" studies in order to pass FDA standards. The test will ensure that the medicine inside his device stays sterile and potent for a certain period of time.
The doctor said that the evaluation will cost around $2 million. He's currently taking bids from manufacturers for AllergyStop.
"It cost an incredible amount of money and time and effort," McMahon said. "I have a patent on my device and one of these advisors says, 'It probably doesn't even matter because it's so hard to take a product to market, you really won't have any competitors.'"
This venture is quite the tall drink as McMahon is going head to head against the FDA and giant pharmaceutical companies. He went on to say that he's considering opening up AllergyStop to investors and hopes he doesn't run into issues. One of his biggest concern for his product are investors that will try to jack up the price, the very problem that he wishes to resolve.
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