The U.S. has supported high prices as the cost for innovation. Since other countries are not playing along, this means that their citizens are benefiting from the innovation paid by Americans.
Conclusion
Big Pharma is at a crossroads today. The previous "great" chronic diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, infectious disease (viral and bacterial) have now been tackled by "blockbuster" drugs.
The high regulatory pressures, price pressures and lack of future such blockbuster markets dictates that pharma companies will have to innovate a lot more in niches -- more products, smaller markets. The large pharma companies which grew up in a time of plenty will therefore have to radically change how they do business, from increasing acquisition (which doesn't always work), cooperative agreements, exemptions from regulatory approval, and other such measures.
At the same time, pharma companies must find a solution to work with fast-growing, important developing markets in such a way that innovation can still be paid for, while the developing...
A good precursor for this is anti-retroviral drugs against AIDS in Southern Africa. Realizing that they could not use patent law to enforce their claims, most big pharma companies came to an understanding with the governments which met everyone's goals.
Bibliography
Bureau, U.S. Census. (2001). An Aging World. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
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Economist. (2007). World Atlas. London: Economist.
Herper, M. (2007, October 29). Drug Drought. Forbes, p. n.p.
Hoover, D.R. (2002). Medical expenditures during the last year of life: findings from the 1992-1996 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey - Cost of Care. Health Services Research, n.p.
Pear, R. (2004, January 9). Health Spending Rises to 15% of Economy, a Record Level. New York Times, p. n.p.
Reinhardt, U.E. (2000). Medicare: Its Financing and Future. Health Affairs, n.p.
Pharmaceuticals Industry
