I'll never forget a cartoon in the back of a research magazine before the internet where there were two scientists in lab coats with their beakers on the bench,

I'll never forget a cartoon in the back of a research magazine before the internet where there were two scientists in lab coats with their beakers on the bench, and over the intercom the boss says "Hey you all down in R&D, get off your butts and invent something habit-forming!" Anyway, it is so important where to draw the line when it comes to ruthlessness, or whether it should ever be a consideration. This could be said of registered pharma as well as unlicensed cartels. With greed you can only divide the spoils, and therefore almost always returns less than anticipated. You're going to have to do the opposite to maximize your chances of returning more than anticipated. However you can see the author is pointing out some structural and marketing observations and not advocating cartelism or gangsterism.