 (CNN) The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first generic competitor to EpiPen and EpiPen Jr. for the emergency treatment of allergic reactions in adults and children. Teva Pharmaceuticals received Food and Drug Administration approval for generic versions of both the EpiPen and EpiPen Jr, the agency said in a statement Thursday. "We're applying our full resources to this important launch in the coming months and eager to being supplying the market," Teva said in a statement. No details are available regarding the cost of the new generic or precisely when it will be available. "This approval means patients living with severe allergies who require constant access to life-saving epinephrine should have a lower-cost option, as well as another approved product to help protect against potential drug shortages," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in the statement. Epinephrine injection is used along with emergency medical treatment for life-threatening reactions caused by allergies to insect bites or stings, foods, medications, latex or other causes. Though the key ingredient in the EpiPen, epinephrine, has been available for decades and is no longer covered by a patent, generic copies of the device have struggled to reach the market because the product is technically a drug-device combination, and the delivery device proved hard for generic competitors to copy to a degree that would satisfy regulators. This effort is part of the administration's overarching aim to "remove barriers to generic development," as outlined in its Drug Competition Action Plan , announced last year. The products are the first competitors cleared by the FDA that are direct generic copies of the EpiPen and could be substituted for the brand-name product by a pharmacist. What this means for back-to-school planning 
 
 Before the new generic, the only other FDA-approved alternatives to EpiPen were the brand products Auvi-Q and Adrenaclick .
– Parents of children with serious allergies may soon get some relief when shelling out for a epinephrine auto-injector. The FDA has approved a generic alternative to Mylan Pharmaceuticals' widely used EpiPen and EpiPen Jr., reports CNN. While other name-brand injectors exist, this one, produced by Teva, is the first approved non-brand option. "This approval means patients living with severe allergies who require constant access to life-saving epinephrine should have a lower-cost option," FDA chief Scott Gottlieb, "as well as another approved product to help protect against potential drug shortages." As the AP notes, Mylan caught serious heat in 2016 when it jacked up the price of a two-pack to $600, or five times what it cost 10 years before. Israel-based Teva says it plans to launch the product as soon as possible, though it provided no specifics about a date or a possible price. Mylan has its own generic version of the device on the market for $300 per two-pack, and CNBC says the price probably won't drop substantially below that until multiple approved generics hit the market. (Mylan's CEO had to fend off comparisons to Martin Shkreli.)