In addition to excessive salaries and bloated admin, the money that is actually used for research purposes ends up subsidizing the cost of drug development for pharma companies who will later sell these drugs for a healthy profit.
Here's how it works:
lab applies for grant money from cancer foundation, gets it. lab applies for money from pharma company gets it. But the pharma company asks for, and gets,  'first right of refusal' on any IP like an effective cancer-fighting molecule. 
A number of cures for rare cancers have been discovered, but are not in active use because the rarity means they are not profitable to produce.
I have a science degree and friends who worked in those labs doing primary research.