If big Pharma can still make mega bucks without it actually eradicating the diseases, leaving them to make money in the long run... we'll probably see it being tried.
Life and Death is all about the bottom line, you know.
/person who understands the nature of capitalism
Fixed that for you.
Luckily, Universities do a large portion of pharmaceutical research, drug companies often just purchase and commercialize the formulas. So, even though it might not be in drug companies' best interest to have permanent preventative cures, somebody will likely still develop them anyway. Once it exists, somebody will distribute it.
While I agree to a point with the Cynicism. Large pharmaceutical companies are in competition with each other and would release a cure if they found one because that would ensure they get 100% of the business behind the release of that cure that they can sell first normally at a steep profit while also destroying the product lines of their competitors tailored at only treating it.
If a cure existed, each one would be working their asses off to be the first to release it because they cannot afford the damage to their bottom line if their competitors release first. Similarly they wont hide a cure because of the risk that a competitor will discover it themselves.
Long term treatment may bring in more money, but that is also at the cost of lowering prices and dealing with competition. The once off lump sum of a cure with absolutely no price reduction caused by competition is more lucrative.
