After months of searching, the drug hunters had tracked down the prized game they believed could help launch the next chapter of their company.

The team from Biohaven Pharmaceutical moved fast, fearful that rivals were in close pursuit. On Christmas Eve, CEO Vlad Coric and a company board member flew 400 miles west from their home base in Connecticut, on a mission code-named “Project Rudolph.” They hoped to return bearing a valuable gift: an experimental medicine with the potential to treat a variety of brain disorders.

These microscopic tunnels are a goldmine for new medicines | BioPharma Dive