Many drugs are eye-wateringly expensive and companies maintain it's because of development costs, but in fact, many new drugs are made possible thanks to ground-breaking early work by academics in universities or institutes, not in companies.

One listed reason for raising prices was "market conditions."

Any American who has paid the price of a patent-protected medicine knows the core flaw in the U.S. prescription drug system: our elected leaders have handed over control to profit-hungry corporations. And for-profit corporations gonna for-profit, as the kids would say.

Most medical research is funded by industry, not public sources. And industry puts pressure on researchers in many ways, from guiding the research question to suppressing unfavourable findings.

Lilly makes medicines that help people live longer, healthier, more active lives. We were founded by Eli Lilly in 1876, and are now the 10th largest pharmaceutical company in the world. http://www.lilly.com

Isis Pharmaceuticals on Friday announced that it will change its name to Ionis Pharmaceuticals. The company's shares, which now trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker "ISIS," will trade under the new ticker symbol "IONS." The new ticker symbol will become effective on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals did not mention the so-called Islamic State, the terror group also known as ISIS.

Doping in sport is widespread and shows little sign of abating. Athletes are dropping out of the Rio Olympics like flies. Maria Sharapova was banned for two years after testing positive for meldonium; a Romanian kayaking team failed their drug test, disqualifying them pending further investigations; and the International Olympic Committee announced that they could ban up to 31 athletes from competing because retests of their samples collected during the 2008 Beijing Olympics indicated the presence of banned substances.

Mark Baum believes the relentless EpiPen price hikes are "shameful" and his company is plotting a $100 alternative for the lifesaving allergy treatment. Baum, known for offering a $1 substitute for the $750 AIDS drug Daraprim, told CNNMoney on Tuesday that his company Imprimis Pharmaceuticals (IMMY) has been quietly working on a compounded version of EpiPen for months. The company hopes to have it ready by the end of the year.

Does your EpiPen cost a fortune? Blame Mylan for that. Anger and bipartisan disgust toward Mylan, the drugmaker that sells the EpiPen, increased after the company hiked up prices to $608 for a two-pack, up from about $100 in 2009. The company is also under fire for other shady practices involving the CEO’s mother. But Mylan's chief executive says not so fast."I think many people incorrectly assume we make $600 off each EpiPen.

Mylan said on Monday the auto-injector EpiPen pretax profits were higher than it told Congress, according to Dow Jones.

For $US20, a group of high school students has created 3.7 grams of an active ingredient used in the medicine Daraprim, which would sell in the United States for between $US35,000 and $US110,000. Pyrimethamine, the active ingredient in Daraprim, treats a parasitic infection in people with weak immune systems such as pregnant women and HIV patients.

Drug maker Actavis UK broke competition law by raising prices of hydrocortisone tablets by more than 12,000 percent, Britain's competition watchdog said in a provisional ruling on Friday. Higher prices meant the tablets cost Britain's National Health Service (NHS) about 70 million pounds last year, up from about 522,000 pounds previously, the CMA said.

OxyContin is a dying business in America. This is the third part of a Los Angeles Times investigation exploring the role of OxyContin in the nation’s opioid epidemic. With the nation in the grip of an opioid epidemic that has claimed more than 200,000 lives, the U.S. medical establishment is turning away from painkillers. Top health officials are discouraging primary care doctors from prescribing them for chronic pain, saying there is no proof they work long-term and substantial evidence they put patients at risk.

Outspoken former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli said the national outrage over drug pricing was blown out of proportion and heightened by the U.S. presidential election, although he conceded he could have predicted the blowback better. “In terms of regret, maybe not seeing that as acutely would’ve been a minor regret,” Shkreli said during an interview on Bloomberg TV Friday. “But because the price increase has stuck, so to speak, I don’t really, that’s the main mission...

CVS is now selling a rival, generic version of Mylan’s EpiPen at about a sixth of its price, just months after the maker of the life-saving allergy treatment was eviscerated before Congress because of its soaring cost to consumers. The drugstore chain says it will charge $109.99 for a two-pack of the authorized generic version of Adrenaclick, a lesser-known treatment compared to EpiPen, which can cost more than $600.

A totally free alternative to the expensive epinephrine auto-injector EpiPen will soon be available in the United States, thanks to the return of Kaleo Pharma’s auto-injector Auvi-Q. Auvi-Q is an auto-adrenaline-injection system similar to EpiPen. Manufacturer Kaleo had to recall it last fall, but it has been allowed by authorities to return to the market by 14th of February this year.

This week, drug manufacturer Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals settled a lawsuit with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for US$100 million, for engaging in illegal anti-competitive behaviour to ensure its continued monopoly over a life-saving medication for infants with epilepsy. More than a decade ago, Acthar Gel sold for $40 a vial, but since it's been acquired by Mallinckrodt, the price has been raised to more than $34,000 a vial, netting the company more than $1 billion in revenue in 2015.

Mayor Ray Stephanson is ready to move forward with a civil lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, a drug manufacturer. Mayor Stephanson says the city has internal emails that show the company knowingly allowed OxyContin into the black market, and he claims the city will have to spend tens of millions of dollars to deal with the drug problem now plaguing Everett. Hil Kaman is the city's Public Health and Safety Director, and he's been investigating the problem.

Federal antitrust regulators are eyeing big drugmaker Mylan's EpiPen business, the company said this week. Mylan, in a statement, said the Federal Trade Commission asked it "months ago" for information about its anti-allergy EpiPen "as part of a preliminary investigation." The disclosure comes nearly five months after two United States senators asked the FTC to investigate whether Mylan violated antitrust laws to protect the auto-injector EpiPen from competition.

Where’s the outrage?