Developing a new drug, like Viagra, costs hundreds of millions of dollars. This includes extensive pre-clinical testing on animals, followed by rigorous clinical trials involving thousands of human participants across multiple phases. Each phase requires meticulous data collection, analysis, and regulatory submissions to agencies like the FDA.
Consider this: only a small fraction (less than 10%) of drugs that enter clinical trials ultimately reach the market. This high failure rate contributes significantly to the overall cost. Companies invest substantial funds in research before even knowing if a drug will work as intended. The cost of failures significantly inflates the price of successful medications.
Manufacturing also adds to the expenses. Building facilities, obtaining regulatory approvals for manufacturing processes, and ensuring quality control are all costly undertakings. Patents, marketing and distribution further increase the final price consumers pay.
The lengthy timeline – often exceeding a decade – also impacts the cost. Researchers and developers need to be paid for their expertise throughout this extensive process. Adding all these factors together, it becomes clear why new medications are expensive.
Therefore, the price of brand-name drugs reflects the significant investment required to bring them to patients. Generic alternatives, produced after patent expiration, substantially reduce the cost as they don’t require the upfront R&D investment.
