Approximately 14 million Americans are addicted to drugs and alcohol. The federal government estimates that these addicts cost the U.S. economy $300 billion in medical expenses and lost productivity each year. Despite the enormous potential market, many biotech companies have shied away from funding research and development (R&D) initiatives to find a cure for such addiction. Your firm - -Drug Abuse Sciences (DAS) - -is a notable exception. It has spent $170 million to date working on a cure, but is now at a crossroads. It can either abandon its program or invest another $30 million today. The firms opportunity cost of money is 7 percent (7%) and it will take another 5 years before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will approve the actual sales of the drug. So, in the chart below, DAS will earn its first profit of $15 million in 2018. Expected (year-end) profits from selling the drug are presented below. At the end of the ninth year, profits fall to zero as the patent runs out and other producers can make the same drug. Should DAS continue with its plan to bring the drug to market, or should it abandon the project? Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Profits $0 $0 $0 $0 $ 15 million $16.5 million $18.5 million Year 2021 2022 Profits $20.0 million $ 22.0 million