That sounds like a large discrepancy, but what's the all-up manufacturing cost of an A330-200 (including development) per unit sold?
I do not know and it does not matter
What I know is that Air France (and also the French government) can buying many A330 disregard of the high price .. and Airbus .. have the expected benefits as required
So the expenditure of 18 million Euros for research is a small amount of money for all concerned
Although on a purely economic point of view it is an investment without direct profitability ... this must be considered an investment that can improve safety .. and therefore can generate income in the future