6. Why Are New Drugs So Expensive?
The entire process of bringing a new drug to market involves years of laboratory research and development, animal trials, toxicity testing and, finally, clinical trials. Typically, this process plus the patent filing, takes over 10 years, so it is a long time before the pharmaceutical company can start earning any payback for its investment which can amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. Obviously the company needs to earn back some of that investment, so the costs are passed on to consumers.
