You make an interesting point. On the topic of pharmaceutical pricing, a free market think tank wrote in agreement with a Bernie Sanders proposal for the government to experiment with a prize system over the current patent system, which has host of problems:
Because it is such an obviously ungainly monster, the goal of reforming this system has the potential to break down some political walls: Although we are affiliated with the libertarian Cato Institute, we find ourselves agreeing with Sen. Bernie Sanders, for instance, that the government should experiment with a prize system instead of awarding patents to drug companies.