Factor in the failed programs and you’re looking at about $2B of spend in order to bring a drug to market.
Several drug developments are halted before they reach market. Novo for instance lost a lot of money on their bet to develop inhalable insulin 15 years ago
That cost also has to be recouped when finally hitting the jackpot
So the whole "American big pharma needs to make a billion dollars a week in profit to recoup their R&D" is nothing but marketing fluff.
I would think any company - regardless of where it’s headquartered - would seek to recoup R&D costs in a huge market like the US where prices aren’t capped by the government.
I haven’t seen anyone say American pharma companies in particular need to make a ton of money.
The American-specific topic is that American consumers pay a ton more for drugs. That can be chalked up to lack of single-payer making American consumers incredibly easy to bully/negotiate against + all the rent-seekers who sit at various points along the care delivery system.