The reason for studies and papers is that they have to produce papers and studies to retain their college/research positions and funding. Actual new research is secondary or tertiary. It is all about funding.
I read Milton Friedman's "Free to Choose" in high school. I really did. And I remember reading that "when you pay for research, you get research; when you pay for results, you get results."
It hit me like a lightning bolt.
Since then, I've learned that the idea strikes other people the same way, once it's explained to them.
I wish a politician would tackle this issue head on. It's really not that difficult to explain.
Anyway, Friedman proposed creating a multi-billion dollar cancer cure fund, rather than funding cancer research. At a federal level, this approach would certainly be preferable. I'm sure he wouldn't have objected to a privately financed award.
But the cure for a disease crosses over into the category of public health, so public funding would be justifiable if the cure technology were to be placed in the public domain.