The coordination of effort greatly accelerates discovery. Our scientific community is far too fractionated to be efficient. Look at all the technological leaps that were accomplished during WWII on both sides of the equation. It all happened because people were looking at all of the work being done by separate organizations and divisions, bring them all together rapidly.
We could be so much further ahead than we are if things were based on mutual cooperation rather than competition. Unfortunately that's not how the world is set up.