Drug companies have a portfolio of compounds they research. Most don’t pay off, so R&D costs make their way into the pricing of those superstar and other drugs that do work. Also, timelines are pretty long.

In that light, the entire market itself looks essentially artificial, given drug manufacturing couldn’t exist without government guaranteed property rights, which are themselves a kind of monopoly on use.

But yes, the reason brand name drugs are drugs are more expensive than generics is due to intellectual property, both the patent and the trademark.

Without temporary monopolies granted by patents, those prescription medications wouldn’t exist in the first place.