The days of shelling out hundreds of dollars for your kid's misplaced EpiPen [1] might be coming to an end. On Aug. 16, the FDA officially approved a generic competitor of the EpiPen [2] manufactured by the Israeli company Teva Pharmaceuticals.

"This approval means patients living with severe allergies who require constant access to lifesaving epinephrine should have a lower-cost option, as well as another approved product to help protect against potential drug shortages," said FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb.

While there are already alternative injector pens — such as Adrenaclick and Auvi-Q — available on the market, they have different designs and "are not authorized copies of the EpiPen." Dr. Gottlieb agreed that getting a generic competitor approved is a big feat.

"These products can be hard to copy, and therefore sometimes don't face timely generic competition once patents and exclusivities are no longer a block to approval," he said.

And the news is a long time coming. Ever since Mylan bought the rights to EpiPen from Pfizer in 2007, allergy sufferers have seen the prices of a twin-pack of the life-saving drug skyrocket to $600. Now, parents will officially be able to score the generic version at prices ranging from $150 to $350. The approval also covers EpiPen Jr. For Kids as well.