U.S. News & World Report: The True Cost of Costly Drug Development
Paul Howard, senior fellow and director of the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Medical Progress, and Yevgeniy Feyman, a fellow and deputy director of the Center for Medical Progress

“…Focusing on the development costs, or even drug prices, without understanding the full social costs of disease can make drugs seem much more expensive than they really are. … So when we debate drug development costs and drug pricing, we need to consider the burden of the disease as well. That includes the loss in productivity from afflicted patients, the labor costs (including physicians, nurses, and family members), and other associated treatment and diagnostic costs. Innovation is an expensive business, and we should do all we can to make drug development more efficient and predictable. More treatments and more cures would also lead to more competition based on price and value. But we need to keep our eyes focused on the costs of disease, not the short costs associated with making and selling drugs” (5/20).