I worked in clinical development and the rough estimate of phase 3 clinical trial costs (this is a few years back) was $15,000 per patient per year. Depending

I worked in clinical development and the rough estimate of phase 3 clinical trial costs (this is a few years back) was $15,000 per patient per year. Depending on the trial design it can be less (less frequent follow up, less invasive testing) or a lot more (say doing multiple MRIs or other expensive imaging). It’s kind of mind blowing when you think about the really big trials for medications like cholesterol. Trials are often 30,000 or more patients, in two trials for 2-3 years. You’re roughly talking about $2B or more just for phase 3 (ignoring all the earlier trials and preclinical work).