[jyl]

Yup.

Those prices are offensive, but it costs $100MM to develop a Gleevec and for every drug that becomes a multi billion-dollar annual seller, 100 other drugs are only mildly successful sellers, and many 100's more fail during development. So the argument is that without the high prices, fewer new drugs will be developed.

Of course, drugs eventually go generic and then become inexpensive, helpful if you've lived long enough.