Biotech and Pharma

Mylan Execs Gave Themselves Raises As They Hiked EpiPen Prices

Ben Popken
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As Mylan's EpiPen prices rose by more than 400 percent, pay for its top executive jumped by more than 600 percent.

Proxy filings show that from 2007 to 2015, Mylan CEO Heather Bresch's total compensation went from $2,453,456 to $18,931,068, a 671 percent increase. During the same period, the company raised EpiPen prices, with the average wholesale price going from $56.64 to $317.82, a 461 percent increase, according to data provided by Connecture.

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In 2007 the company bought the rights to EpiPen, a device used to provide emergency epinephrine to stop a potentially fatal allergic reaction and began raising its price. In 2008 and 2009, Mylan raised the price by 5 percent. At the end of 2009 it tried out a 19 percent hike. The years 2010-2013 saw a succession of 10 percent price hikes.

And since the fourth quarter of 2013 to the second quarter of 2016, Mylan steadily raised EpiPen prices 15 percent every other quarter.

Heather Bresch, chief executive officer of Mylan
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

That's done well for the company's stock price, which went from $13.29 in 2007 to a high of $47.59 in 2016.

While sale of the life-saving drug rose to provide 40 percent of the company's operating profits in 2014, salaries for other Mylan executives also went up. In 2015, President Rajiv Malik's base pay increased 11.1 percent to $1 million, and Chief Commercial Officer Anthony Mauro saw his jump 13.6 percent to $625,000.

Mylan didn't immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment about executive compensation.

As NBC News previously reported, the sharp increases in price haven't escaped the attention of parents worried about paying for the drug in the back-to-school scramble, and Congress is starting to scrutinize Mylan's pricing.

On Monday, Senator Amy Klobuchar wrote a letter to the FTC, calling for a probe.

In a statement to NBC News, an FTC spokesman said, "The Commission takes seriously its obligation to take action where pharmaceutical companies have violated the antitrust laws, and it will continue to closely scrutinize drug market competition on consumers' behalf."

Shares of Mylan were down 4 percent in trading Tuesday as news of its troubles spread.