How can a malign government suppress life-saving technology?
Premise
This is meant to be a dark corollary of the cliche "demographics are destiny." The premise is a hegemonic-like state with persistent drawdowns in fiscal income. Meanwhile unfunded liabilities, to a large extent includes social security, are growing too fast for this state. They've already invoked all the financial voodoo they could in terms of tenor of debt issuance and letting inflation run higher (to pay back less to bondholders in real terms). But it was not to be enough. Faced with a run on their currency (which the state needs to acquire goods and commodities it needs but can't produce), the decision was made to start pulling levers on human lifespans -- indirectly and quietly via suppressing things like cures to cancer.
In today's world of interconnected and peer-reviewed medical research, the above scenario seems a bit unrealistic. This is the crux of my dilemma. I'd imagine that facilities with the manpower and equipment to develop major life-saving technologies would be from prominent biotech companies. Much of these would have public floats and be subject to shareholder interests, board of directors and transparent financial reporting. 824
Granted there are still information asymmetries and insider trading opportunities, but let's assume the market has grown savvy to blatant market abuse.
But simply put, these are companies with very public profiles and a very interconnected web of medical professionals. I see the interconnectedness of all these scientists (nodes) as well as a more transparent form of corporate governance as major obstacles for the government to prevent something like 'the cure for cancer' from making it to market.
A comically stylized script might read:
Deep state man: Here's the deal. That trial was not a success, it was a failure. And I was never here.
Research director: Whatever you say. But I have 300 researchers under me that will need convincing. Some might be willing to play ball, but others have a moral conscience.
CEO: This miracle drug is virtually a mandate for us. We have decades long correspondence with our shareholders and bondholders and now is the big moment. If the trial is a failure again, we can stall for time but in a few years we're going to be in big trouble.
Question
How can a malign government to suppress a life-saving technology altogether or at least reduce as many points of failure in this plan as possible? 824