Since the CEO has said he likes the model of developing drugs and then licensing them, so that the company derives income from royalties, here's a thought that ought to make shorts a wee bit worried:

What if IPIX does make a deal for Prurisol or Bril-OM or Bril-UP that results in a large cash infusion, and the management decides to pay a special dividend to shareholders? (Credit to AlanC for this idea)

Remember that if someone is short and there is a dividend, the entity that is short has to pay that dividend.

Just imagine how happy Mako and friends would be if they had to cough up a couple bucks/share.... in addition to covering the short stock, which would skyrocket on such news....