"May or may not succeed" applies to the research itself, regardless of how it is funded. I imagine the subtext of your comment is that ALS (or gene sequencing?)

"May or may not succeed" applies to the research itself, regardless of how it is funded. I imagine the subtext of your comment is that ALS (or gene sequencing?) should receive more public funding, but they both already receive a lot of public funding. It's the overall sustained effort in medical research that leads to results, for ALS this time and maybe for something else next time.