Nonsense. People like you argue that the NIH is some savvy investor, facilitating pivotal research because no other private entity can. Private pharmaceutical companies, for example, foot a significant amount of the costs of drug development, and they do it in a much more cost-effective way.
No they don't.
Pharmaceutical R&D – its cost and what it delivers
Data from companies, the United States National Science Foundation, and government reports indicate that companies have been spending only 1.3% of revenues on basic research to discover new molecules, net of taxpayer subsidies. More than four fifths of all funds for basic research to discover new drugs and vaccines come from public sources.
Pharmaceutical Companies Spent 19 Times More On Self-Promotion Than Basic Research: Report