You are the manager of a small pharmaceutical company that received a patent on a new drug three years ago. Despite strong sales ($175 million last year) and a low marginal cost of producing the product ($0.50 per pill), your company has yet to show a profit from selling the drug. This is, in part, due to the fact that the company spent $1.2 billion developing the drug and obtaining FDA approval. An economist has estimated that, at the current price of $1.50 per pill, the own price elasticity of demand for the drug is -1.5.
Based on this information, what can you do to boost profits?
- Reduce price.
- Keep price the same.
- Raise price.