[ImPostingOnHN]

> there is a limited part of the drug market where curing may not be as profitable as maintenance

That's the same as asking,

> "Is curing patients a sustainable business model?"

The offense in question is letting profits effect a decision to develop a treatment over a cure. You're literally spelling out the bad thing.

[PeterisP]

I think it is good and honest for companies to acknowledge that the current incentives work against trying to achieve [SOME_GOOD_RESULT], as in that case the first step towards getting that thing done would be figuring out how can we change the money flow so that there would actually be motivation for companies to direct their R&D efforts towards that.

If the society says to manufacturer "if you do this, you'll get less money from us" that is effectively the society saying "please don't do this". People and governments vote with their wallets about what they want, and if they're "voting wrong" or ineffectively, then they need to change what they pay for, instead of being surprised that they don't get what they disincentivize.