That is a good point, and it shows another reason lack of public funds hurts us in the long-run. Scientists who work at non-profits are in it for the prestige, and thus are far more likely to look for actual cures (as well as go out on a limb and do the more radical experiments with a higher chance of no useful information, but a much greater benefit if there is success). In turn, that would pressure the pharmas into looking for cures, because a treatment is worthless if there's a cure.