Read the article. The company wasn’t the one to discover it. They bought it for pennies then put in minimal research to further develop it, but only based on the research of another doctor who wasn’t with the company. Then they put in another round of research to develop it once more only to cheat the patent law, not to improve the drug efficacy. In the end they spent far less than the normal amount to develop what normally justifies the cost. Then, the price hikes were independent of development pushes and were tied only to quarterly profit demands.

For the other movies, while they dont meet Hollywood standards of success, they still succeeded. If you spend $60 mil employing people for 2 or 3 years, and are doing what you love, and it pays you back $60 mil to do it again, that’s success. Even with the flip in there, the others covered it. As long as they break even, it bankrolls the next movie.