Pharma Dilemma

Forbes recently calculated the cost of drug discovery to be between $3.7 and $11.8 billion per drug that actually goes to market by accounting for the total cost of research over five years and the number of drugs approved during those years.  Essentially pharmaceutical companies operate at a loss unless they make at least $3.7 billion on sales per drug.  Despite this, the article's author criticizes the pharmaceutical industry for using this cost of development to justify the high cost of drugs, calling them "dumb."  Many have recognized the increasing difficulty in developing new drugs.  For example there are a scarcity of new antibiotics in the face of ever growing antibiotic resistance and superbugs.  With the cost of healthcare shackling companies and governments, stricter price bargaining, and generic drugs vying for consumer wallets, selling medication and funding research will not get any easier.