The strange history of the EpiPen, the device developed by the military that turned into a billion-dollar business and now faces generic competition between Mylan and Teva

In 2016, the EpiPen became a symbol of the drug-pricing problem in the US.Over a decade, the price for a two-pack has gone up from$93.88 to $608.61, an increase of more than 500%. On Thursday, the FDA approved Teva's generic version of the drug, dealing a blow to branded EpiPen-maker Mylan.The injectable device delivers a dose of epinephrine, otherwise known as adrenaline, to treat extreme allergic reactions.It's been around for more than a century.And the pen that delivers the medication has been around since the 1970s, when it was first developed for the military.Here's the story of how a device that's nowa household name became one of the most controversial drugs in the US.SEE ALSO:FDA approves Teva's generic EpiPen in blow to MylanDON'T MISS:Mylan quietly made an acquisition for almost half a billion dollars in July that it didn't tell investors about right awayEpinephrine, another name for the hormone adrenaline, is something our bodies produce naturally. It increases blood flow to the muscles during "fight-or-flight responses."Source: Mental FlossJapanese chemist Jokichi Takamine is credited as one of the first people to discover and isolate adrenaline as its own chemical. Not long after its discovery, scientists figured out how to produce it in large enough quantities to see how it could be used in different medical settings.Source: The Practice of Medicinal ChemistryDoctors continued to investigate how adrenaline works during the early part of the 20th century. In the past 100 years, it's been extensively studied, with more than 12,000 studies referencing it.Source: Pharmacological Reviews, PubChemSee the rest of the story at Business Insider
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