> Objectives. We explored whether the United States, which does not regulate pharmaceutical prices, is responsible for the development of a disproportionate share of the new molecular entities (NMEs; a drug that does not contain an active moiety previously approved by the Food and Drug Administration) produced worldwide.
[...]
> Conclusions. Higher prescription drug spending in the United States does not disproportionately privilege domestic innovation, and many countries with drug price regulation were significant contributors to pharmaceutical innovation.
And
> In the United Kingdom, the pharmaceutical industry invests more of its revenues from domestic sales in research and development than do companies in the United States.
The US pays a lot for medication, but a lot of that money is used for things that are not innovation (eg advertising). Countries that have better free markets for medications don't see less spending on innovation, they see more spending on innovation.
How true is this though?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2866602/
> Objectives. We explored whether the United States, which does not regulate pharmaceutical prices, is responsible for the development of a disproportionate share of the new molecular entities (NMEs; a drug that does not contain an active moiety previously approved by the Food and Drug Administration) produced worldwide.
[...]
> Conclusions. Higher prescription drug spending in the United States does not disproportionately privilege domestic innovation, and many countries with drug price regulation were significant contributors to pharmaceutical innovation.
And
> In the United Kingdom, the pharmaceutical industry invests more of its revenues from domestic sales in research and development than do companies in the United States.
The US pays a lot for medication, but a lot of that money is used for things that are not innovation (eg advertising). Countries that have better free markets for medications don't see less spending on innovation, they see more spending on innovation.