It is never easy, you know.
In 2005, company officials examined the situation in the field. In their program and action plan, they made it clear that more vaccine manufacturing capability was required. In 2007, the foundation and the government agreed to work together.
Time passed, and that was a problem. The foundation held a meeting at the start of 2009 and the question was raised. From a scientific standpoint, circumstances had changed owing to trials that had been completed. Furthermore, worldwide vaccine manufacturing capability had continued to increase. Unfortunately, the process outlined to you today had already been initiated.
It was at this point in time that we asked field experts on vaccine manufacturing to do a study. They found that production capacity was quite high, much higher in fact than it had been thought would be needed to meet vaccine requirements for clinical trials.
This wasn't the first time that this had happened, and it's unfortunate for the people who did all of this work, but it is good news. It means that all of the funds earmarked for manufacturing facilities can now be used for other purposes and to accelerate the development of the vaccine.