"A recent uptick in commercial drug discovery in diseases such as cancer, hepatitis C, and multiple sclerosis means that the price of drugs is firmly a First World Problem; not merely something that troubles poor people in faraway countries. This article focuses on the economics of the problem. The aim is to explain why many drugs are so expensive that even First World health systems struggle to pay for them. After all, to the uninitiated, drug pricing does not make obvious sense."