I could be even more specific and give you some examples of funding levels for NCEs that have sort of a similar level of complexity.
PrioNet, which Dr. Fon and I both are a part of, was $35 million for the first seven years, so $5 million a year. We had a plan for a larger program that would run to $55 million. I'm also part of another NCE on carbon capture and storage that is $50 million over five years.
These are the sorts of levels of investment that tend to give a big payoff. If you underfund it, you'll make little incremental advances, but this level of investment offers the potential for significant breakthroughs.
If you could structure the research initiative so that it covers all facets--the basic biology by which neuro-degenerative disease is occurring--you have to understand that before you can think about treatment and cure.
We had some notions about possible therapeutic and prothotic vaccines for certain neuro-degenerative conditions that I think are within a decade of coming to fruition. This could be part of the treatment aspect.