iX Biopharma Launches New Supplements Business Arm

Singapore, 15 May 2017 – iX Biopharma Ltd (“the Group”) has incorporated a new wholly owned subsidiary, Entity Health Pte. Ltd. (“Entity”), to promote and market its new line of products: supplements addressing specific conditions. Entity will be the Group’s third business arm, complementing its existing pharmaceutical business and chemical analysis business.

Rationale

• In the last 6 years, the Group has developed substantial intellectual property in drug formulation and delivery platforms, including sublingual. The supplements business is a natural extension of the Group’s activities as it leverages existing expertise to innovate and introduce new, improved products with speed to market and at lower regulatory threshold.

• In the consumer healthcare market, the growth in demand for supplements has propelled global supplements sales to increase by 50% to US$88 billion from 2009 to 2014, as reported by Euromonitor. This is believed to result from a paradigm shift from treatment to prevention of health conditions. With extending lifespans, the quest to maintain a good quality of life amid modern hectic lifestyles has become prevalent, leading consumers to seek out comprehensive yet convenient healthcare solutions. ? The Group currently has excess capacity in its licensed manufacturing facility in Australia. The manufacture of supplements in this facility will yield the two-fold advantage of increasing the utilisation of the facility, and reducing the capital expenditure required for its production.

Product Feature

Entity’s maiden product is WafeRest, a sublingual melatonin wafer supplement for the alleviation of jet-lag and improvement of sleep quality. Research has shown that oral melatonin has a low absolute bioavailability due to either poor oral absorption, large first-pass metabolism, or a combination of both. The Group is hopeful that WafeRest, with its sublingual delivery process, will help to address this issue by bypassing the first-pass metabolism, hence offering a more rapid and predictable dosage.

Apart from WafeRest, Entity has finalised formulation and is preparing for commercial production for:

• Type 2 Diabetes: management of blood sugar levels

• NAD+ (Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide): scientific evidence suggests that NAD+ has the potential to enhance DNA repair

In addition, the Group has identified and commenced formulation development of a number of consumer-driven lifestyle products. These supplements have been identified for development in view of their potential to address the growing market demand for healthcare solutions that are comprehensive, convenient and capable of enhancing the quality of life even as lifespans are getting longer.

Target Markets

Entity is well-positioned to take advantage of the growing demand in Asia for Australia-made supplements products which are perceived as safe and of good quality.

Our supplements products are manufactured under the strict Good Manufacturing Practice conditions; in compliance with Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia standards. In the initial phase, Entity plans to launch its products in Australia and Asia. The Group is in the process of putting a marketing campaign together that will include branding, an ecommerce platform and lifestyle mobile application for conditions management.

About iX Biopharma Ltd

iX Biopharma Ltd is a Singapore public-listed specialty pharmaceutical company, with manufacturing and laboratory testing facilities in Australia. The Group is focused on the development and commercialisation of innovative therapies for improving the quality of life of those suffering from pain and other health conditions. The Company leverages its patented sublingual drug delivery technology, WaferiX, to develop proprietary products that incorporate pharmacologically active compounds that have been approved by regulatory bodies. Its pipeline of products under development includes Wafermine and BnoX for pain management; it is also in the process of commercialising PheoniX for erectile dysfunction and WafeRest for improved sleep quality.

Contact for media:
Ms Alvina Tan
DID: +65 6221 2123
H/P: +65 9787 7267
Email: alvina.tan@arkadvisors.com.sg

Ms Karin Lai
DID: +65 6221 0081
H/P: +65 9837 8136
Email: karin.lai@arkadvisors.com.sg

This document has been prepared by the Company and its contents have been reviewed by the Company's Sponsor, CIMB Bank Berhad, Singapore Branch (the "Sponsor"), for compliance with the relevant rules of the SGX-ST. The Sponsor has not independently verified the contents of this announcement. This document has not been examined or approved by the SGX-ST and the SGX-ST assumes no responsibility for the contents of this document, including the correctness of any of the statements or opinions made or reports contained in this document. The contact person for the Sponsor is Mr Yee Chia Hsing, Head, Catalist. The contact particulars are 50 Raffles Place, #09-01 Singapore Land Tower, Singapore 048623, telephone: (65) 6337-5115.

Back to news