The costs of drugs is usually profit seeking. Many drugs can already be produced and delivered cheaply if the economic system would allow it. Trying to patch the drug instead of the economics just gives people worse drugs.
I see no reason why we can't do both. We obviously need better drugs for the diseases we haven't yet cured, and we need cheaper drugs for the diseases we've already cured. The two are related yet distinct problems.
Incidentally, Scannell wrote one of the best teardowns of how drug pricing actually works: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2015/10/13/four-r...