This sounds obvious, but the two get mixed together all the time. A supplier price list shows an asking price. It does not reveal raw material cost, labor, failed batches, testing, shipping, payment risk, or margin.
The retatrutide comparison calls its upstream figure an observed market benchmark. That wording is less exciting than “true cost,” but it is supportable. I think we should correct any thread that treats an upstream quote as a factory cost unless there is a separate source for the factory claim.