iX Biopharma: Broker Issues Rare 5X Target. How Did It Arrive At That?

THE CONTEXT • Rare is the analyst note that gives a target price 5X higher than the trading stock price. Well, Phillip Securities Research has just done it -- and it's not happened in years, if ever. Triggering a 65% surge in stock price to S$0.33, head of research Paul Chew set a S$1.00 target for iX Biopharma, a Singapore biotech company listed on the SGX Catalist in 2015. • It specialises in sublingual (under-the-tongue) drug delivery, which promises faster absorption and higher bioavailability than conventional pills or injections. Eddy Lee, Chairman and CEO, iX BiopharmaThe company's lead asset, Wafermine, is a ketamine-based wafer for acute pain management that has completed Phase 2b trials and is now entering Phase 3. • A commercial breakthrough happened in February 2026 when iX secured a US$41 million contract from the US Department of Defense to fund the Phase 3 programme, plus potential Emergency Use Authorisation for military battlefield use. • Its stock performance over the past two years: In 2024, the shares traded as low as S$0.15–0.3. It was S$0.015–0.10 through most of 2025. • The DoD contract news in Feb 2026 triggered a rally to S$0.20 by early April 2026, and spiked further to S$0.33 on 10 April after the Phillip Securities report.  • Does the S$1.00 target look overbullish? It's based on a sum-of-parts valuation -- lots of big numbers sprinkled with a good dose of confidence in the market potential. Global potential, mind you. Read excerpts below .....

Excerpts from Phillip Securities Research report
Analyst: Paul Chew
 

There are three pathways to monetise Wafermine: full commercialisation upon FDA approval (1Q29), out-licensing, or an outright sale of the drug.

Until completion of Phase 3 trials, iX Bio will be enjoying three new sources of revenue through Wafermine EUA sales, DoD grant funding, and compound pharmacy in the US.

We assign a 40% discount to the underlying net present value of Wafermine and value the compound pharmacy at 20x PE.

We also discounted the remaining 30+ drugs, which are under various stages of development.

• Endorsement and non-dilutive funding of Wafermine by the US DoD. We view the US$40.95mn Phase 3 clinical trial funding and orders from the DoD as a major endorsement and major external validation of the WaferiX sublingual technology.

It is a superior outcome compared to a typical Phase 2 out-licensing deal in which a partner captures the majority of upside.

iX retains full ownership and control over Wafermine.

DoD removes the capital overhang and reduces the risk of Phase 3 execution.

Other latestage drugs that have received US DoD development funding include nerve agent countermeasures, bacterial infection treatments and virus vaccines.

EUA will allow the immediate sale of Wafermine, estimated in 1Q27.

• Compound pharmacy to monetise nutraceuticals and other drugs. The compounding pharmacy market in the US is worth US$6bn. Compounding pharmacies supply personalised drugs via telehealth platforms, clinics and hospitals.

iX's WaferiX technology enables personalisation of drugs into a differentiated sublingual dosage, allowing 30+ WaferiX drugs and nutraceuticals to be supplied without further FDA approvals.

Partnership with Orion Speciality Labs provides a capital-light manufacturing and distribution route to the US, with NAD+ as the near-term revenue driver.

Potential of other products Paul Chew, analystiX’s Waferix sublingual drug delivery can deliver active ingredients to address a multitude of medical conditions or indications. Some in the pipeline include erectile dysfunction, obesity, depression, allergy and vaccination. The more advanced pipeline assets are Wafermine for rare, prolonged pain (or CRPS) and Dexmedetomidine for acute agitation in dementia.

→ See also: IX BIOPHARMA: This stock may do well if its innovative drug delivery systems find outlicensing partners soon