Photo: Sandoz Sandoz Inc. announced on July 9, 2019 the nationwide retail launch of Symjepi, the pre-filled epinephrine syringe, in both adult (0.3 mg) and pediatric (0.15 mg) doses. Sandoz is the marketing and commercial partner of Adamis Pharmaceuticals, which developed the epinephrine product.
The pre-insurance retail price for a two-pack of the Symjepi is $250. The company also has a savings program, which allows eligible patients pay as little as $0 for a syringe set.
For patients who are looking to purchase Symjepi, Allison Schneider, director of communications at Sandoz, recommends that an allergist writes a prescription directly for Symjepi or writes the prescription as “epinephrine injection” rather than “epinephrine auto-injector.”
“[This is] so that pharmacies can ensure patients receive epinephrine medicine alternatives during their first attempt to fill their prescription,” Schneider told Allergic Living.
The retail rollout of Symjepi comes at a crucial time for patients with food allergies who have faced ongoing shortages of Mylan’s NV’s brand-name EpiPen and its generic equivalent. (kaléo’s Auvi-Q compact auto-injectors and Teva’s generic auto-injectors are not in shortage.)
“Patients and health-care professionals are trying to navigate this critical shortage of self-injectable epinephrine products, which is why Sandoz is immediately making Symjepi available in adult and pediatric doses to patients at their local pharmacies,” Carol Lynch, president of Sandoz, said in a press release.
Dr. Dennis Carlo, president and CEO of Adamis, added: “we expect that Symjepi will play a role in ending the chronic shortages of epinephrine injection products in the U.S.”
The syringe is about four inches long and the design is more basic than an auto-injector, which has a mechanism to fire the needle along with the medicine. With a pre-filled syringe, one presses down on a plunger to give the medicine via a needle. The 0.3 mg-dose is intended for patients who weigh 66 pounds or more. The lower-dose device is meant for younger children, who weigh between 33 and 66 pounds.
Symjepi has provided an instructional video for patients on how to properly use the epinephrine syringe. Information on the savings program is here.
