$1.5 billion for a new approved drug

From here

The Office of Health Economics (OHE) estimates the mean R&D cost to get to a new drug approval is $1.5 billion, adjusted for inflation through 2011. In a study released Monday, the research and consulting company said the estimate is based on unpublished data for 97 projects collected in confidential surveys by CMRI (formerly the Centre for Medicines Research), which was acquired by Thomson Reuters in 2006.

Is it strange that the cost of development is constantly increasing? No, it is not - it is in accordance to Eroom's law!