Originally Posted by gideongallery

they would not be creating it for fun
but for the x years of monopoly profits as the next competitive version goes thru the testing cycle.

of course the R&D cost would be significantly smaller since you would not have to re-invent the wheel so to speak to get the new wonder drug, just focus on making the small but significant improvement over the previous version.

competition would spur innovation, safety standards would create the barrier to entry, and allow monopoly profits for the term of testing. Drug companies would have a profit motivation to extend testing rather than shorten it.