Thanks for the question; it's a great opportunity. We're very proud of the work that's going on in our laboratory. It's world class and the laboratory has been recognized as world class for quite some time. On the vaccine itself that we developed, as you know we've licensed that out for commercialization. It's in the midst of clinical trials in West Africa right now.
On my recent trip to West Africa I came to see one of the Ebola treatment centres just as the staff were beginning an information session for the clinical trials that would actually try it on the staff. My understanding from the clinical trials is that our vaccine is doing very well. In fact, one of the companies we're working with, Merck, thinks it's going to be the vaccine to go forward, so we're very proud.
I think it's worth noting that the development of vaccines, from creation to actually using them in people, typically takes 10 to 12 years, the vaccine manufacturers tell us. Because of the Ebola outbreak, because we've worked collaboratively with many organizations around the world, including WHO, CDC, etc., that's been significantly shortened. As a result, we should be able to see some commercialization of this vaccine within the next few months, potentially in the fall, although we actually can use it now.
As you know, the numbers are going down. It may seem a little bit late, but I think we're going to continue to see this disease in the future and next time, thanks to our vaccine, we'll see a very different response and a very different outbreak.