Developing an algorithm doesn't generally cost hundreds of millions. Developing a drug and taking it all the way through clinical trials easily can. I think patents make sense for some sectors. Software just isn't one of them.
There is also the fact that for lots of things, software are being part of an ecosystem where people come to the same solutions naturally.
Think about the "swipe to unlock", when the only thing you have to interact is a touch screen, it's not like there is lots of different possibilities.
At that point patents become harmfull because it blocks other people from making progress and having competition in a given ecosystem.
Drugs just don't have the same collision of solutions problem.
And this gets even more ridiculous when all you have to do to work around this is swipe inside a circle instead of on a straight line.
Keep in mind that the cost way pay for these patents is a dramatically higher price for life-saving (or life-improving) treatments. Could we not cut out the middle-man and redirect a portion of those higher costs to fund research and clinical trials directly (i.e. in the form of taxes)?