They would not exercise the right to license by signing a full fledged license with up front fees and % of revenue deal if the drug did not pass a Phase III drug trial and get final FDA approval years down the road, if the Phase I/III trials ran into problems 18+ months to 3-5 years down the road due to bad side effects(?), did not work on Humans(?) all of which is 18 months away from even starting Phase I per the quote I just shared. Phase I/III Cancer trials takes years and are very expensive.
I would think they have grant money lined up from one or more Non Profits to fund the early trials already, that may just need time for the ink to dry (next PR.../). The good news is they have the right to license world wide. And the Right to a license deal was free (The right, not the actual license), if they get funding and get a drug trial going (as is typical) and fund it.