re: Can a virus be patented?

The virus isn't patented, they just sell it.

The ATCC is a central repository for biological materials including bacteria, human cell lines, and viruses. Where do you think scientists get the material to study pathogens, they buy them.

Now I can't speak to the royalties part but the guy listed was probably the first to isolate it and then deposited with the ATCC. He worked with the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research.