The idea that r&d is inefficient is not unreasonable. the reality behind valeant's demise is more complex. valeant initially began its strategy of buying cheap, cash flow generating assets. But as time went on, they ran out of low hanging fruit as asset prices rose and deals became harder to find. to generate revenue growth and support their growing debt balance, they resorted to unethical, and illegal, tactics such as raising prices and defrauding insurance companies into reimbursing their products.
I do, however, agree with you that much of modern medicine is focused on treatment as opposed to prevention. Type 2 diabetes is probably the best example, which is largely preventable with a good diet and exercise. Unfortunately, it's much easier for patients to take a pill after they start feeling symptoms than it is to adhere to a healthy lifestyle when they are asymptomatic..
For good reason. Curing Hep C was a breakthrough medical innovation, which ultimately will save the healthcare system tens of billions of dollars (preventing end stage liver disease, liver transplants, etc)
Several of your claims are inaccurate, which I'll attempt to correct.
tl;dr - its way more complicated
LDL particles are not (at least directly) a part of the immune system. They are lipoproteins, generated primarily in the liver, that are implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis (buildup of plaques in the blood vessels).
The immune system, however, plays an important role in atherosclerosis, as it is thought that inflammation in the vasculature contributes to atherosclerosis.
Statins (contrary to your assertion) have in fact been conclusively shown to improve mortality from cardiovascular events. You can find many studies in the last 20 years that have demonstrated this with high statistical significance (do a pubmed search or look for articles in the New England Journal of Medicine).
Perhaps most interestingly, the latest research suggests that statins may improve cardiovascular outcomes not solely from LDL reduction (which has been the classically accepted hypothesis, as statins target the enzyme in the liver that regulates LDL reuptake), but also through anti-inflammatory mechanisms. This idea has been further strengthened by research suggesting that LDL reduction alone (as with a newer agent of drugs called anti PCSK9) may not provide as strong of a mortality benefit, weakening what is known as the "LDL hypothesis". In addition, another recent trial (called CANTOS) found that an anti-inflammatory agent targeting IL-1, an inflammatory cytokine, improved cardiovascular outcomes (such as heart attacks), further strengthening the notion that the immune system plays a key role in cardiovascular disease.
