“It takes close to a billion dollars to get a big time successful drug through the FDA”
A Polish insulin was developed for about $40 million about 15 years back.
A simple and easy fix is to pass a federal law stating:
Medicines that have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) at least six months in the past and are currently in good standing with the EMA shall treated by domestic law as if they have been FDA approved. Such medicines, if marketable in the European Union, shall be importable into and marketable in the United States under the conditions specifically imposed by the European Union.
That would certainly stir the domestic research/legal establishment. Every manufacturer would develop their new medicines in the EU.
Not that the above projection is all bad. There would be thrashing, but eventually laws on medical development would get more or less harmonized.