Certainly some of those are new uses for existing drugs, but drug trials ain't cheap either.
Often repeated, but the data doesn't bear it out, especially in aggregate.
https://www.raps.org/getattachment/5578195e-ed51-4f03-8adc-c...
https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2019/7/...
Rant. Prime time TV is now pharma pushing their drugs with the occasional programming jammed between the ads. All those ads are coming from their extreme markups. Placebo and manufacturing artifacts aside, a molecule is a molecule, buying generics should be the default. It is bad enough, but the real disgrace is pharma salespeople masquerading as GPs prescribing meds according to who is sponsoring them. Instead of telling people about the active ingredient they send them to buy BRAND. At least this is my experience in the 2nd world.