I'm sorry that you think academia isn't "with the program". There's lots of great basic and translational research going on in the academic sphere. Can you at least elaborate, if you're going to paint us all with a broad brush?
Do you know a good source for the historical data? I am wondering how they rule out that in the 1950s/60s they saw only much sicker patients, while today a bigger population gets diagnosed and treated. Related, there may be lead time bias: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_time_bias
Any source with discussion of these methodological issues would be helpful.
For better or worse, our current model is for academics to do basic and early-stage translational research (mostly animal models), then sell/spin off to companies to do the actual trials and reap the profits. I don't see what academics are supposed to do about this.