$1 Billion And 10-15 Years For Government Approval Of A New Drug

From The Wall Street Journal, "Critics of 'Me-Too Drugs' Need to Take a Chill Pill: A medicine that differs slightly from another can have a big health benefit." by Henry I Miller:

It now takes 10-15 years for a pharmaceutical company to get a new drug approved, and on average the cost exceeds $1 billion. There is a lengthy process of laboratory, animal and clinical studies, and then regulatory review, to establish safety and effectiveness according to government standards. Arguably, that is more than enough.