[forgotpwagain]

Typically quoted values are (in the current market), approx. $2-3B per product brought to market.

Drug development is incredibly difficult -- for very good reasons. The FDA has to be risk-averse in order to protect the health of the public and to prevent harm to be done.

[philh]

More cynically, the FDA has to be risk-averse because people get much more upset over "this person died because the FDA approved a bad drug" than over "this person died because the FDA didn't approve the drug that would have saved her".