It’s perhaps analogous to how list prices for college tuition aren’t necessarily reflective of what people actually pay.

It’s a complex system and the price increases are used in part to negotiate with the intermediaries like PBMs.

Biologics are a special case also due to complexities in how they (and biosimilars) are regulated, manufactured, and exclusivity periods they are granted. They certainly are not a few cents a dose to make.

Not a satisfying answer, and apologies for that, but it’s difficult to traverse with anything approaching brevity.

Not the same professors salary and other costs rise with inflation a drug once developed and a production line is in place does not face the same cost increase

Drug company employee salaries and overhead also keep pace with inflation, better than academic salaries. I don’t understand your point.

A biologic production line requires extensive upkeep: it is a living product. Costs all around are higher. There are also Phase IV activities to consider.

Bottom line, all else being equal, biologics cost more than small-molecule drugs to make and distribute.