Pharma...

Cancer drugs cost far less to develop than industry-backed research asserts, an analysis published asserts. Research and development costs are a major reason that drug companies justify high prices, so this dispute has a direct bearing on the cost of medical care.

The analysis, published in the current issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, concludes that it costs, on average, $650 million to develop a new cancer drug. The authors add in another $100 million or so to account for income those companies could have had if that money had been invested in the stock market instead of in new products.

That total is far lower than the $2.7 billion figure that the drug industry frequently points to when it justifies the soaring cost of medicine.

Prices of medications is higher since the market is not open and free. This is why in Canada and other similar countries prices are one third of the American market.

So the revenue from Marketing in US is more rewarding than R&D which is not the case in Europe.  Just a thought.