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The patent on this specific drug has already expired. It is just that the demand is low so that it is not cost effective for a competing manufacturer to get FDA approved. However there are FDA exceptions for compounding pharmacies to make the medicine to order and a particular one has been willing to do it cheaply since they don't need full FDA approval.

Money? These drugs and the companies don't come cheap.

Take Gilead for example, which created Harvoni/Sovaldi for treating Hep-C. It's currently valued at about $150B. Before the release, it was a quarter of the price, so the value of Gilead's Hep-C franchise is in the order of $70-$80B at the very least. That's about the entire net worth of Bill Gates.

Good point. Also "can't the rich just help us" is a terrible narrative. If your regulatory and economic system is broken then a few handouts won't fix anything. The numbers when it comes to pharmaceuticals ,or healthcare in general, are astronomical. No, a rich person can't just fix everything by buying something.

Its possible but not a cost effective philanthropic strategy...