There are some crazy predictions, and I don’t want to get into an argument. However one sign of hope is that knowledge and technology is exponential, and transferable to similar problems. 5 years of technological progress now may be more than 20 years of progress 50 years ago.
Not to mention the actual signs of hope via current ME/CFS research.
It takes typically 15 years to go from 'Oh - that is the biochemical pathway of the disease' to getting the first candidate drugs through drug development, animal studies for toxicity and effectiveness in biochemical pathway informed trials, phase I, II and III clinical trials.
And any drug going into this process may crash out at any point because it's not effective, or causes kidney cancer or something.
Some aspects of drug discovery have become faster.
The rest of the process remains fairly similar.
Unless the biochemical pathway involved can be treated with existing off-the-shelf approved drugs or supplements 'off label', this process is lengthy.
Note that AZT was first developed to have antiretroviral properties (it was originally an anticancer drug) in 1974.
In 1985, following the discovery that AIDS was cause by the retrovirus HIV, AZT (and other candidate compounds) began to be rushed through testing.
This was an already existing compound, with some mouse safety data already available, for a disease actively killing people in obvious ways, so it was a 'perfect storm' to get it approved fast.
The only way it could have been better would be if AZT had gone through human trials as an anticancer agent, or even been approved.
If the biochemical pathway was found tomorrow, and existing drugs do not suit, it's likely to be 15 years or so until a developed new drug is available - if that drug actually works.
Due to PR reasons, barring massive changes, there is going to be no massive campaign to vastly accelerate the process.
The best case is stuff like Rituximab.
If it had worked, it would likely have been available 'on label' last year, from a discovery in 2009 that it might help.
(And of course, if you could convince your physician, many would have likely been willing to prescribe late 2017 if the phase III had concluded sucessfully).
Eight or nine years till 'widespread availability'.
Then there is the problem that it's not unlikely that CFS has at least two or three different subtypes of differing origin, needing different treatment.