In my mind I’m picturing an editorial cartoon where we see an employee’s cafeteria at a major pharma company.
A man is in line considering his options.
The prices are outrageously high but there is a sign advertising programs to help poor people get their lunch at a subsidized price or even free.
You understand that the lesser complexities of growing and preparing food, as well as the relatively short time it takes to go from farm to your local cafeteria, make food significantly less costly than pharmaceutical products.
I should also point out that the FDA did not "approve" of this drug with that cost. The cost of a drug is not within the purview of the FDA.
In fact, I'm not even certain that Novartis has made the wholesale price public to date. The $475k price tag was an "estimate" made by a consumer advocacy group, partly to set a ceiling, and strongarm Novartis into a lower price.