Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Receives $10 Million Milestone Payment

Staying up-to-date has never been simpler. Sign up for the free GenePool newsletter today!

Isis Pharmaceuticals Earns $6 Million Payment from AstraZeneca

CARLSBAD, Calif., June 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISIS) announced today that it has earned a $6 million payment from AstraZeneca related to continuation of the research collaboration between Isis and AstraZeneca to discover and develop novel antisense therapeutics to treat cancer. In addition to the research collaboration, which includes three cancer targets, Isis and AstraZeneca are developing two antisense drugs, ISIS-AR_Rx and ISIS-STAT3_Rx, discovered by Isis and licensed to AstraZeneca for the treatment of cancer.

"We are pleased to be working with AstraZeneca, a global leader in oncology, and are already benefiting from our collaborative efforts. In just six months, we have selected a new development candidate, ISIS-AR_Rx, to move forward into clinical development to treat patients with prostate cancer and initiated two clinical studies on ISIS-STAT3_Rx in patients with advanced lymphomas and liver cancer. We are also making progress selecting the next three oncology targets that we and AstraZeneca will focus our research efforts toward," said B. Lynne Parshall, chief operating officer at Isis. "The success of this collaboration is an example of how our partnering strategy enables us to develop a broad pipeline of antisense drugs in a variety of therapeutic areas. Our oncology franchise consists of five antisense drugs in development to treat patients with a variety of cancers. We look forward to continuing to expand our cancer franchise with AstraZeneca as we move our research programs forward toward development."

In December 2012, Isis entered into a collaboration with AstraZeneca to discover and develop antisense drugs to treat cancer. The collaboration combines AstraZeneca's experience and expertise in developing anti-cancer agents with Isis' antisense technology platform to broaden Isis' cancer franchise. With the $6 million payment, Isis has earned $41 million in upfront and milestone payments from AstraZeneca and is eligible to earn additional milestone payments as the collaboration progresses and royalties on sales of drugs resulting from the collaboration.

ABOUT ISIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

Isis is exploiting its leadership position in antisense technology to discover and develop novel drugs for its product pipeline and for its partners. Isis' broad pipeline consists of 28 drugs to treat a wide variety of diseases with an emphasis on cardiovascular, metabolic, severe and rare diseases, and cancer. Isis' partner, Genzyme, is commercializing Isis' lead product, KYNAMRO, in the United States for the treatment of patients with HoFH. Genzyme is also pursuing marketing approval of KYNAMRO in other markets. Isis' patents provide strong and extensive protection for its drugs and technology. Additional information about Isis is available at www.isispharm.com.

ISIS PHARMACEUTICALS' FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT

This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding Isis' strategic alliance with AstraZeneca and the discovery and development of antisense drugs to treat cancer. Any statement describing Isis' goals, expectations, financial or other projections, intentions or beliefs, including the commercial potential of KYNAMRO, is a forward-looking statement and should be considered an at-risk statement. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, particularly those inherent in the process of discovering, developing and commercializing drugs that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics, and in the endeavor of building a business around such drugs. Isis' forward-looking statements also involve assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove correct, could cause its results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although Isis' forward-looking statements reflect the good faith judgment of its management, these statements are based only on facts and factors currently known by Isis. As a result, you are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These and other risks concerning Isis' programs are described in additional detail in Isis' annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, and its most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q, which are on file with the SEC. Copies of these and other documents are available from the Company.

In this press release, unless the context requires otherwise, "Isis," "Company," "we," "our," and "us" refers to Isis Pharmaceuticals and its subsidiaries.

Isis Pharmaceuticals® is a registered trademark of Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. KYNAMRO is a trademark of Genzyme Corporation.

SOURCE Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.