Proteus Maxcorp, a corporation with a small R&D department, is one yea

Question

Proteus Maxcorp, a corporation with a small R&D department, is one year into the development of a new drug for the regular treatment of a certain skin condition. This project continues even though Proteus could work with stem cells to create a permanent cure to the same condition at a lower R&D cost while charging twice as much per treatment.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain why Proteus Maxcorp has chosen to pursue development of a new drug rather than create a permanent cure?

A. It will take at most three stem cell treatments to cure the condition.
B. The stem cell treatment will take slightly longer to develop than the drug.
C. The drug is expected to have no unwanted side effects.
D. Projections of the production costs for the drug and the stem cell treatments are about the same.
E. Stem cell treatments, while very effective in certain applications, are still experimental.

Edit: Added the OE below

_arijita_roy_ · Answer

I did'nt understand how ans A is the correct ans as nowhere in the para is it written that three stem cells are required

Labesh123 · Answer

Can somebody explain why A is a correct option?

ssraj111 · Answer

i feel the answer to be between B and E, both suggest there is some time and uncertainty before stem cells will be available

rohitgm · Answer

OE

Fact 1 : Proteus Maxcorp, a corporation with a small R&D department, is one year into the development of a new drug for the regular treatment of a certain skin condition.

Fact 2 : This project continues even though Proteus could work with stem cells to create a permanent cure to the same condition at a lower R&D cost while charging twice as much per treatment.

The phrase most helps to explain in the question stem indicates that this a Resolve/Explain question. The fact that Proteus is developing a new drug for the regular treatment of a certain skin condition suggests that the development of this product is the best investment that its small R&D department can make for the company’s long-term financial interest. Yet, Proteus could work with stem cells to create a permanent cure to the same condition at a lower R&D cost while charging twice as much per treatment. For an answer choice to explain this apparent discrepancy, it must provide a reason why Proteus would choose to develop the new drug despite the fact that Proteus could develop a permanent cure while charging twice as much. Evaluate the answer choices, looking for one that reflects this idea.

Choice A : Correct. This choice is supported by the argument. If a regular treatment does not cure the condition, then Proteus would continue to generate revenue from the sale of the drug indefinitely. A permanent cure would only generate revenue for as long as the patient suffered from the condition.

Choice B : No. Slightly longer is out of scope. The length of time to develop one treatment versus the other does not provide much insight into the reason that Proteus has chosen to develop the drug rather than the stem cell treatment, particularly if there is only a slight difference in the development time.

Choice C : No. Side effects is out of scope. The lack of side effects does not explain why Proteus has chosen to develop the new drug rather than developing a permanent cure and charging twice as much.

Choice D : That projections of the production costs for the drug and the stem cell treatments are about the same makes the conflict worse. If there isn’t a significant difference in the production costs, then it is even more puzzling as to why Proteus has chosen the drug over the stem cell treatment.

Choice E : No. This choice addresses only one side of the conflict. That stem cell treatments are…still experimental does not reconcile why Proteus has chosen to develop the drug despite the fact that the company could charge twice as much for the stem cell treatment.

The correct answer is choice A.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

_arijita_roy_

Notice the language "Which of the following, if true" in the question stem. This means that we're not trying to infer something from the text, as in Reading Comp. Rather, we are looking for new information that would make sense of what we've read. If the company could charge twice as much per treatment, but at most three treatments are required, then this is not going to be as lucrative as selling a drug (even if it seems like the right thing to do ethically).

rohitgm · Answer

Since few others are finding a similar difficulty with the reason behind why option A is the correct answer, I'll try and explain my understanding of the OE and why A is the best answer among the five.

Now, it is clear that the question stem is a resolve/explain type problem, since it asks us to explain the reason behind why  Proteus Maxcorp has chosen to pursue development of a new drug rather than create a permanent cure .

Option A tells us that it will take at most three stem cell treatments to cure the condition. Now Proteus Maxcorp, like most other institutions, work for generating more money. So, if the stem cell treatments would cure the condition in just three treatments, then the corporation will lose out on money opposed to what it can generate from the drug treatment. Even though the stem cell treatment costs the double of what the drug might cost, if a patient is going to only come for three treatments (and get a permanent cure as a result), then the corporation will lose out on all the revenue it could generate compared to giving certain drug to the patient forever.

Option B conveys that the stem cell treatment will take slightly longer to develop than the drug. If you ask me, this is actually a bad idea since any saving the corporation would get with the lower R&D cost would be eaten up by the time it takes to develop the treatment.

Option C would be a contender, but the wording it too vague. Unwanted side effect? Is it a dealbreaker? Would increased fatigue for a short time be considered a dealbreaker? We can't be sure, so this option is out.

Option D makes conflict worse because the reasoning makes the stem cell treatment a better choice. Other things considered equal, with similar production costs for both treatments, stem cell treatments would have been a better choice considering it has a lower R&D cost and cost twice as much for the patient.

Option E is a good contender, but it's not the right answer. The phrase "very effective in certain applications" is out of scope since we don't know if it is effective on the skin condition. And the treatment being experimental isn't exactly a dealbreaker for the corporation. Might be one for the patient, but that's not what we are concerned about.

user2424 · Answer

A) is the correct answer if you follow pre-thinking approach. If you think about the argument from the perspective of a profit-making corporation, regular treatment drug is being picked over a permanent cure because of the "regular" aspect of the drug, i.e. number of treatments for drug usage will be higher than the number of times the permanent cure will be administered and hence, the total revenue earned from the temporary drug will be higher than that earned from the permanent cure administered per patient. Option A) puts a cap on the number of stem cell treatment recurrences (at most 3) which aligns perfectly with our logic.

Kratosgmat · Answer

Option A should be the answer and here is my 2 cents
the argument says stem cells give permanent cure... If that's the case people won't come back for the treatment again after 3 treatments as per option A..... But development of the new drug will ensure that people visit regularly and there is a steady cash flow

VerbalBot · Answer

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Proteus Maxcorp, a corporation with a small R&D department, is one yea

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