iX Biopharma Ltd (SGX:42C), a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops innovative therapies using its proprietary sublingual drug delivery technology, WaferiX, announced today that it has, through its subsidiary, entered into an exclusive license agreement with Seelos Therapeutics, Inc ("Seelos") (NASDAQ:SEEL), a company focused on developing novel therapeutics for central nervous systems disorders. Under the agreement, iX Biopharma will license to Seelos its lead drug under development, Wafermine, a sublingual racemic ketamine wafer, and other products incorporating R- and S- enantiomers of ketamine utilising the WaferiX technology (the "Licensed Products"). iX Biopharma will receive a US$9 million (SGD 12 million1 ) upfront payment to be satisfied in cash and shares2 . iX Biopharma is also eligible for up to US$239 million (SGD 323 million1 ) in milestone payments upon achievement by Seelos of certain development milestones and product sales thresholds. iX Biopharma will also receive double digit percentage royalties on future net sales of any Licensed Product. Seelos will fund all future development, manufacturing and commercialisation of the Licensed Products. Eddy Lee, Chairman and CEO of iX Biopharma, said: "We are delighted to collaborate with Seelos Therapeutics, whose deep insights in ketamine drug development make them an ideal partner to further the development of Wafermine and the other sublingual ketamine products. Licensing our WaferiXbased pharmaceutical drugs to suitable third parties for development and commercialisation is a core strategy to unlock the value of our assets. We are therefore excited that this commercially significant agreement with Seelos is a validation of our ability to deliver on this strategy." "The licensing of the WaferiX drug delivery platform for sublingual ketamine broadens Seelos' ketamine franchise with formulations that we believe will be suitable for both acute and chronic dosing. This should enable us to study additional indications beyond our current focus," said Raj Mehra, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Seelos. "The pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and safety profile that has been demonstrated to date suggests a formulation that has the potential of being prescribed with less restrictions than current formulations. Our team is excited to be able to study additional indications with this very innovative technology." 1 USD/SGD conversion rate: 1.35 2 US$3.5 million in cash and US$5.5 million in shares in Seelos (Co. Reg. No: 200405621W)