Why are pharmaceuticals so expensive?

Answer 1

They like to blame it on research and developement, but the nation's leading drug companies last year spent nearly twice as much on advertising alone than on research and development, and nearly three times more on advertising, administration and executive compensation, according to a study released yesterday by Families USA.

Answer 2

Many chemicals don't cost a lot to produce, but they do cost a lot to discover. Pharmaceutical companies spend a lot of money on research, and would only do so if they are going to get that money back in the end. So once they have come up with some wonderful new drug and taken it through years of expensive clinical trials, they sell it for way, way more than it costs them to produce.

After awhile (far too long imo), the patents on the drugs they have created expire, and any company can produce them. At this point it becomes a matter of brand names and marketing. You can get generic versions of some drugs (eg Asprin = acetylsalicylic acid) that cost less than the brand name version and are identical in content, but people don't due to successful advertising during the years that these companies held the patents.

Finally, there is the mystery (to me) of why the same brand name pharmaceuticals are cheaper in some countries than in others. In Thailand, a box of the same brand of birth control pills (identical, except with Thai writing on one side) costs 1/10th what it does in Canada. And in Canada they're even cheaper than in the States. I'm not sure exactly why this is.. maybe a combination of government subsidies, taxes, and the fact that people just aren't willing/able to pay as much for drugs in some parts of the world.

Answer 3

Pharmaceuticals are big corporations that manufacture drugs for medicinal purposes. This is a big business that has a strong economical and political implications. These corporations spend so much money to know exactly the medicinal capacity of a single drug in clinical laboratories through research. These studies entail large amounts of money on people, technologies and procedures in order to get this drug to meet the requirements according to a regulating body, example, the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. Most of these studies would take years sometimes tripling the expenses in research alone. Consumers has to pay for all these, after all this is their business, not to mention the advertisements in order to push for these drugs in the market. A big chunk of the price you are paying for goes to advertisement expenses. That is why, most drugs are very expensive.

Answer 4

The prescription drug industry is based on the discovery and development of new products, and understanding patent laws is necessary to understanding the prices charged by manufacturers for their products. Drug manufacturers obtain a form of legal protection called a 'patent' for new chemical compounds and new products they develop, and these patents provide manufacturers with an exclusive right to sell new drug products for up to 20 years from the date of the patent filing. Once the patent expires, the drug may be manufactured in generic versions by any number of manufacturers, thus lowering the prices for the drug. Drug manufacturers are able to charge relatively high prices during the patent period because no other competitor can offer the same drug, although other drugs that have similar therapeutic benefits may be available from other manufacturers. Providing manufacturers with a limited period of market exclusivity helps them recoup research and development costs and earn a return on investment. Without some form of legal protection for the intellectual property that results from research and development, drug manufacturers would be unlikely to make the large investments necessary to bring new drugs to market. While few would debate the need to provide manufacturers with incentives for research and development, there is much debate about the details of how the laws work, including the appropriate period for exclusivity and the ability of manufacturers to extend the exclusivity period.

Brand name prescription products generally are more expensive in the United States than they are in other countries with developed economies, largely because the governments in those countries play a direct role in establishing prescription drug prices and regulating profits. Rising prescription costs in the United States have led some to call for greater government involvement in regulating the pharmaceutical industry as a way of constraining cost growth. Opponents however, argue that government involvement will not guarantee lower prices, may have unintended consequences for the rest of the market, and would negatively affect patients because regulatory actions would stifle industry incentives to invest in research and development of new therapies.

Americans pay more for prescription drugs than residents of any other country, yet the treatment they receive is not necessarily of higher quality. The increased costs are not always allotted for developing better drugs; they do provide larger profits for pharmaceutical companies.

Hope this helps.

Rick the pharmacist

Answer 5

because it costs a lot to make a pharmaceutical product, the research behind it, all the people involved, the patenting, the trials, volunteers for testing, minimising side effects etc... all these cost money. billions of dollars are required to manufacture one drug!

Answer 6

because the pharm. companies are like everyone else.. They want all the money they can get and they don't care who gets screwed in the meantime.. U can't tell me that when a drug cost $300 here is US and u can get it from Canada for $100 or less that they aren't making money and it's NOT going into research.. it's going into the bank accounts.. I take one drug that is $1200 a month and in Canada it's less than half of that....that's for 120 pills.. $100.00 a pill..and they aren't getting rich.. What a joke.

Answer 7

it costs millions to research new drugs

Answer 8

Because they want to make a LOT of MONEY!

Answer 9

because chemicals are expensive