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I can not speak for how it is done in Europe, but in the US a patent tends to be granted quickly but before clinical testing. The newer drugs take longer to complete safety studies and that reduces the time left remaining on the patent. To make up for that and to help pay for the R&D the drug manufacturers set a high price on their drugs.

What could help make new drugs cheaper is to start the patent protection when the drug is approved. This would help the drug manufacturers a longer time to recoup their R&D costs through the sales of the drug.