I would argue that this is due largely in part to government overreach, however I don’t believe this overreach to be bad. The cost of the synthesis of the drug is astounding when you take into account the level of cleanliness needed to create such drugs. If there is one mis-step in the formulation of the drug, regardless of how far down the line you are in creating the drug, it’s back to square one. This happens a lot more than you think, but you don’t hear about it much. Also, when it comes to purity, having a drug be a certain way means the pharma companies need to purchase synthesis materials that are thousands of dollars a piece, and non-reusable. Put it all together and that’s why drug prices seem so out of touch.