Rutgers Cancer Institute research + PLME apps, how much does it actually matter

So I've been doing cell biology research at Rutgers Cancer Institute for like 18 months now under an MD-PhD, mostly wet lab stuff on apoptosis pathways. Got some solid data, PI says publication is "likely" but we're talking spring at earliest, so probably won't be out before I submit apps. I'm applying PLME as reach, Pittsburgh GAP, Northwestern HPME, Rice/Baylor, and a couple backups. My question is whether the research matters more for BS-MD than it does for like, regular T20 pre-med? I know PLME especially cares about "intellectual vitality" and research fits that, but I'm worried that if the paper doesn't come out in time, it just looks like "did research" with no real output. The PI's credible and the work is legit, but I can't control the timeline. Should I be cold-emailing other labs right now to get a second project that could actually produce something by November, or is that overkill and would it just look like I'm chasing pubs? Also curious if anyone here applied BS-MD with unpublished research and how AOs treated it.