Seems NGIO has protected itself against your fears, GMIN. You may be right on the royalties. NGIO needs $ - I'm hoping China paid for the expenses and the $5 Mil. We'll know soon:

"NGIO has signed a development and commercial licensing agreement with partners in China to develop a vaccine against the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus. The agreement provides exclusive rights to the Ii-Key- SARS-COV-2 peptide vaccines in China; NGIO retains worldwide rights to the Ii-Key peptide vaccines."