How cheaply do you think you can run a clinical trial with human patients in the absence of bureaucracy? I imagine increased insurance and recruitment costs would eat up the difference.
That’s hypothetical, but it’s a real trend. Costs go up based on the number of people you have to sift through to find someone eligible.
Things like viagra (10 years ago) or ozempic are still in the honeymoon period where inclusion/exclusion criteria are broad enough that you can enroll lots of people in any given place.