$20k per year for a brand new drug that went through 15 years of development is peanuts. Welcome to healthcare in the country that leads the world in pharma research, for good and for ill.
Napkin mathing here since available data isn't great, but the US definitely doesn't lead the world in healthcare R&D spending relative to our size. We're spending something like 0.22% of GDP on healthcare R&D, putting us at about #7 globally. In comparison, Denmark spends 0.93% of GDP on healthcare R&D. And that list is missing data from other countries that probably rank above us, like Cuba.
The thing is you don't even need this new drug, from the article "Risperdal and Zyprexa" are very effective antipsychotics. Even more effective when combined with a long acting to prevent backslide from missed does.
Who cares about the TD, tremors, etc. when that patient can rejoin society? Really what needs to change is reopen US mental hospitals to get these patients treatment and end the stigma around mentally illness.
