Yup, something very interesting for me!

The whole industry requires the "blockbuster" drugs to pay for the others, in effectively cross-subsidies. If these don't bring in billions, where is the money for the companies coming from? What is a "fair" price for the patent? Atorvastatin has raked in $1 Billion a month. Does the government have tens of billions to throw to get this?

Generics are cheaper as the studies required to get a generic license are far, far cheaper and are merely one or two bioequivalence trials as opposed to safety or efficacy ones.

But the American health system has far greater issues than this. People want drugs that are 10 times as expensive, but 10% better, and since it comes from the care plan they get it. In the UK, generics are used as first line treatments and at a population level that is a better approach.