I went to a talk by a VP of development at a prominent pharmaceutical company, and nowadays it's taking around 7 years from basic studies to animal studies to h

I went to a talk by a VP of development at a prominent pharmaceutical company, and nowadays it's taking around 7 years from basic studies to animal studies to human trials to approval. This is especially true for biologics (antibody drugs), as they can test and find good candidates for human trials quickly. I'm sure it's still expensive, though, and many companies like you said go bankrupt.