Developing a new medicine is only part of the journey. Turning it into a treatment that reaches patients depends just as much on finding the right commercial pathway.

For iX Biopharma, that pathway disappeared in late 2023 when its licensing partnership for its lead drug candidate Wafermine came to an end.

The setback did not change the company’s belief in what it had built. After the licensing rights reverted to the company in 2024, the team moved decisively to reassess its commercial strategy and engage widely with prospective partners.

As the team explored its next steps, chairman and CEO Eddy Lee encouraged them to keep an open mind.

Chief commercial officer Eva Tan recalled: “During a briefing on funding options, he asked to add a new slide to the deck: a picture of a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. And his message to the board was: ‘How do you know we won’t pull a rabbit out of the hat?’”