I was listening to your Bacta War playthrough Corey, and I had an idea with the Krytos Virus. Instead of getting bonuses from researching a cure, what if you had a series of cures to research (costing money that could otherwise be sent to units), and if you don't research each one in time, an NR world declares neutrality. You can't seize it as it is not selectable (like Byss in Shadow Hand) and trying to invade yields a 'we're not like the empire!' message from Mon Mothma. Thus you lose money, Pop cap, and territory. Only researching the Krytos cure prevents this, meaning you have to balance research money with funds for your forces.
On the Ir side (and maybe Zinj), you can research a counter cure... which requires a small amount of money, but mainly infantry units (serving as test subjects for control groups). Thus with this you put infantry on the world where the counter cure is being researched, and they get taken away. This one is more of a balancing act between money and pop cap. (and sacrificing disciplined expendable stormtroopers shows how eeeeeevil Isard is!)
Thoughts?