By Henry Ehrlich
Can the game-changer mentality finally make a dent in the epinephrine market? Here at Asthma Allergies Children world headquarters, we are always on the lookout for new developments that will bring a bit of the disruption ethic, which has been a factor in everything from music to television to taxi service, to allergy treatment. It’s harder with pharmaceuticals, of course. You have to do real things to real people.
Much as we like Auvi-Q as an alternative to EpiPen, it really hasn’t helped the economics of the average food allergy family. Protecting the patient from the danger of anaphylaxis still costs way too much. Thus we were pleased to read in Forbes about a new idea called Abiliject, from a Massachusetts company called Windgap. To Forbes’ credit, they brand EpiPen with the scarlet M for monopoly. According to their reporting, Abiliject will store epinephrine in powered form and reconstitute it instantly as required for use. Thus it has an extended shelf life, unlike the liquid epi in the other injectors. Think of all those expired EpiPens and Auvi-Qs that need to be replaced. Best case scenario is you don’t have to use them. Reality—you still have to pay.
We wish Windgap well and look forward to hearing more.
Great idea, most importantly we must find a way to impress upon families to use which ever device they have when symptoms occur. I have seen far to many children who are symptomatic and parents report they are afraid to administer this life saving medication.