If you are focusing on a single drug family, or if you are using the Cross-Promotion advertising, keeping old drugs that you no longer produce (or producing just a single pill of an old drug and then changing the formula) allows you to assign executives to them to further boost drugs that you are producing. This becomes an excellent way to boost sales rating without risking bad publicity.
Sure, but then again you are getting that same bonus on the “dummy” drug which you’re not selling. For optimum results it’s better to use crosspromotion and portfolio presentations on drugs you are actually selling.
Certainly true! But early on, it’s possible to be limited in ingredients (and therefore cure families) while not being limited in executives.
Producing a single pill of a drug (and holding onto old drugs you no longer produce) allows you to pad your portfolio and give extra bonuses to the drugs you do produce that probably isn’t intended.
With the perk that gives you extra executives at the beginning of the game, you can abuse producing pills with only side effects just to pad your portfolio and boost the sale on your actual pill cures.
You are absolutely right