A certain pharmaceutical firm recently developed a new

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A certain pharmaceutical firm recently developed a new medicine, Dendadrine, that provides highly effective treatment of severe stomach disorders that were previously thought to be incurable. However, to develop the new medicine, the company spent nearly $5 billion in research and development costs. Given the size of the market for Dendadrine and the amount of the initial investment in its development, the company would need to sell Dendadrine at a price that is at least 5 times greater than its variable costs just to break even. Yet the company's management claims that Dendadrine will soon become the major driver of the firm's profits. Which of the following statements best reconciles the management's claim with the evidence on the expenditures associated with the development of Dendadrine?

A. The pharmaceutical firm has been granted a patent to become the sole producer and distributor of Dendadrine, and drugs under patent protection typically sell at prices that are at least 10 times greater than their variable costs.
B. Development of some pharmaceutical products involves substantial initial expenditures on research, testing, and approval.
C. In issues related to personal health, corporate profits should not become the primary consideration.
D. Several other pharmaceutical companies are working on new medicines that may become effective substitutes for Dendadrine.
E. While Dendadrine can be highly effective in treating stomach disorders, it may also result in serious side effects such as dizziness and hallucinations.

What's wrong with options B and D?

OA A
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by deloitte247 » Sun Jul 29, 2018 9:25 am
Option A - CORRECT.
The statement in this Option best reconciles the management's claim with the evidence on the expenditures associated with the development of Dendadrine. Since the development of this new drug has been the only successful drug to help prevent severe stomach disorder, the pharmaceutical firm has been granted a patent to become the sole producer and distributor of Dendadrine, and drugs under patent protection typically sell at prices that are at least 5 times not ''10 times'' greater than their variable costs. However, by selling it at 10 times greater than its variable cost, will help recover fast the fund used in research and development cost, also will lead to the managements claim of Dendadrine being the main driver of the firm's profit.

Option B - INCORRECT.
Development of some pharmaceutical products involves substantial initial expenditures on research, testing, and approval, which after a successful development of such medicine, an unpredictable profits should be expected so as to recover the expenditures used in production. This option is still in support of the claim in this argument.

Option C - INCORRECT.
In some cases, issues related to personal health have not been driven by corporate profits and has not been considered as the primary purpose. But in some cases, profit making has to come as a primary purpose because, looking at the cost of production and the reason for been in business profit making will always be primary.

Option D - INCORRECT.
Several other pharmaceutical companies may be working on new medicines that may become effective substitutes for Dendadrine, but for now Dendadrine is still the only successful medication for severe stomach disorders.

Option E - INCORRECT.
Medically there will be prescribed dosage and limit to which Dendadrine should be taken for highly effective treatment of stomach disorders, meanwhile it may also result in serious side effects such as dizziness and hallucination, which precautions to prevent this effect on patients will be identified in the description slip .