Actually no, in Germany the drug companies can't take any price, because the insurers are negotiating as one party with the drug companies. But yes, drug prices in Germany are relatively high. Why would private companies leave money on the table unless forced by regulation? They have to squeeze every profit they can out of the health care system.

The situation in Germany is way better than in the US, where these negotiations are a lot more favorable to the companies, because they can "negotiate" with individual insurance companies and even patients. But especially in the latter case, there's not a lot of "negotiation"...