I agree that it's easy to invent a set of numbers and be amazed at the results. Even if we pulled real numbers, I doubt it will ever be clear how do they break even at all.

Cute. Google "cost to develop a pharmaceutical" and you'll see validated independent studies that concluded the cost to develop a drug was >$800M 5 years ago and has steadily risen since. I said a billion; actually it's closer to 1.2 billion now. You can calculate the annual interest rate to service such expenditure as it builds up during the development process. If one million units are to be sold per year which was the proposition to which I responded, you can calculate the required gross margin simply to meet the ongoing interest bill let alone pay off the accrued interest. Also you can calculate the margin required to recoup the investment itself in a reasonable period, preferably before the patent expires. And then perhaps you can allow a few extra points so that the developer can generate a return. ;-) You can calculate these things just as easily as I can- or you can simply declare it "imaginary" because it doesn't match what you have decided is true. ;-)

I also doubt that the so-called cost of development is real; looks like creative accounting to me, and also a way to scare competition into giving up on new development.

Sounds great, except that proven performers have no trouble finding investment to perform the pre-clinical and possibly even clinical work on a new molecule. After that it may make sense to sell/license the product to somebody who has the means to carry it to market- just as it may make sense to license "a clever new rubber compound that costs half as much" to tire manufacturers rather than setting up your own factories and distribution networks. If you check you'll see there are boutique serial inventors out there who do well selling/licensing molecule after molecule rather than getting tied up in the risk and cost of commercializing just one.

Look, there is no doubt that pharmaceutical companies make good profits. But they also take big risks to bring the sorts of products to market that we want. There *has* to be a good profit to justify the risk because otherwise it would be incompetent to keep doing it. I'm presuming you do want to see a cure for cancer and other ongoing improvements; unless you perceive that these sorts of products are going to come out of a Socialist model, perhaps the best answer is to buy some shares in a pharmaceutical manufacturer so you can share in the risks and the rewards- and attend Shareholders' Meetings to advocate lower margins if you still feel so inclined. ;-)