Facing public and political wrath for steep price hikes on life-saving EpiPens, the devices’ manufacturer, Mylan, announced Monday that it will offer a cheap generic. But the generic isn’t that cheap.

Since Mylan bought EpiPens in 2007, the company has increased the price from around $50 for a single pen to a little more than $600 for a two pack—a more than 400 percent increase in costs. The new generic option, which the company said will be identical to EpiPens and available in a few weeks, is a two-pack with a list price of $300. That’s half of the current list price for a two pack, but still triple the 2007 cost of the devices.

EpiPens—auto-injectors that deliver a dose of epinephrine to reverse deadly allergic reactions, namely anaphylaxis shock—cost just a few dollars to make and have not changed considerably since Mylan acquired them. Since the price hikes, Mylan has raked in more than $1 billion in revenue each year. The company's chief executive, Heather Bresch, saw her salary increase by more than 600 percent, topping $18 million last year. She’s one of the highest paid executives in the industry.

In a news release, Bresch explained the decision to provide a generic, saying:

We understand the deep frustration and concerns associated with the cost of EpiPen® to the patient and have always shared the public's desire to ensure that this important product be accessible to anyone who needs it. Our decision to launch a generic alternative to EpiPen® is an extraordinary commercial response, which required the cooperation of our partner [Pfizer]. However, because of the complexity and opaqueness of today's branded pharmaceutical supply chain and the increased shifting of costs to patients as a result of high deductible health plans, we determined that bypassing the brand system in this case and offering an additional alternative was the best option.

Ronny Gal, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company told the New York Times that the decision to offer a generic was a “smart (and real) move” on Mylan’s part. It will likely take the public heat off the company while still keeping a significant profit on the auto-injectors. Without a price cut on the brand name EpiPens, which doctors may continue to prescribe out of routine, Gal estimates that the overall revenue per epinephrine auto-injector prescription would still be $280 (or $560 per two-pack).

Prior to offering the generic form, Mylan also expanded access and discounts in their patient assistance programs to try to ease the financial burden on patients.

Though epinephrine as a drug is already a generic, the auto-injector is not easy to manufacture. Sanofi, a France-based pharmaceutical company, removed a brand name competitor to EpiPens last year following dosing problems. No other generic is currently close to coming on the market.