Yes...and...no One of the biggest costs is getting a drug approved and then sold The FDA will prioritize Orphan drugs and other high priority drugs, and the U

Yes...and...no One of the biggest costs is getting a drug approved and then sold The FDA will prioritize Orphan drugs and other high priority drugs, and the US government will help pay for drugs that haven't even gotten full clearance through the FDA if they are considered high priority. Sovaldi (the Hep C drug that cures 90% of cases at over $1000/dose) and Harvoni (94%) you can apply your argument to. And there is a reason why the FDA and US government supports the pricing even over patients screams. Meanwhile, while the FDA did approve Zaltrap, it was not considered a priority drug, and they did not say a thing when Memorial Sloan Ketterring publicly announced they would refuse to perscribe because the clinical data made Zaltrap out to be as effective as many other off patent drugs, and at $11000/month, Zaltrap would bankrupt patients. In the end, Zaltrap's maker, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., brought down the price. (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/opinion/a-hospital-says-no-to-an-11000-a-month-cancer-drug.html http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/opinion/a-hospital-says-no... , https://www.advisory.com/research/oncology-roundtable/oncology-rounds/2012/10/cancer-drugs-cost-slashed-following-sloan-kettering-decision https://www.advisory.com/research/oncology-roundtable/oncolo... ) if Tomorrow you were to invent a new antibiotic that would work against drug resistant bacteria (this is considered to be a high priority research area and any drug that is ready for approval will be fasttracked), you could charge whatever you want, no complaints, and the media will not consider you a villian as much as part of the spectacle of medicine. If you re-invented botox for no reason, or stop others from being a provider in the market, then you get to be a villian