November 17, 2015
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Biotech companies face many challenges, but being associated with a terrorist organization is usually not one of them. Carlsbad, Calif.-based Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. indicated recently that it is considering changing its name after the weekend’s terror attacks in Paris that left 129 dead and 352 wounded.
ISIS Pharmaceuticals (ISIS) was named after the Egyptian goddess of health, marriage and wisdom. It has nothing to do with the Middle Eastern terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), or sometimes simply the Islamic State (IS). After this weekend’s Paris attacks, some governments are referring to the organization as Daesh or Da’ish, which is the Arabic equivalent.
“Even though people know we’re not associated with the terrorist group, the name itself has so many negative connotations,” said D. Wade Walke, ISIS’s vice president for corporate communications and investor relations to CNNMoney on Monday. “It’s obviously not getting better over time.”
ISIS Pharmaceuticals focuses on the development of drugs for cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders. Most recently, on Nov. 10, the company announced it had earned a $2.8 million milestone payment from Biogen, Inc. related to its ongoing Phase I/IIa study of ISIS-DMPK-2.5RX for patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). It also announced on Nov. 5 that it was initiating a Phase III study to evaluate volanesorsen in patients with familial partial lipodystrophy (FPL).
For the most part, the company, which doesn’t sell products directly to consumers, hasn’t seemed particularly concerned with the connection. Part of the sudden focus is undoubtedly with the extensive news coverage and social media attention the Paris attacks received. It may also be related to a recent drop in company on Monday. Late on Friday, Nov. 13, shares traded for $62.65. At their lowest on Monday, Nov. 16, shares traded for $59.68. They have, however, rebounded to $61.73. Shares traded at their highest this year on Mar. 19, 2015, for $77.08 and their lowest on Sept. 29 for $38.04. The brief drop over the weekend might be related to the terror attacks, although a closer look at Friday’s trading suggests prices were coming down in general, although there is no obvious reason for it.
Walke speculated to CNNMoney that it might have been related to news reported regarding Clovis Oncology . The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requested more data about Clovis’ roceletinib for lung cancer. Clovis shares dropped by 72 percent from about $99 on Friday to a low on Monday of $26.05. Clovis is currently trading for $26.71. It’s not clear why Walke would make that connection.
About a year ago, ISIS chief executive officer Stanley Crooke told CNBC’s Jim Cramer that the connection to the terrorist organization, “Drives me crazy … our investors should be sophisticated. And we’ve been ISIS for 25 years, and I don’t feel like I want to capitulate to these tererorists by changing my name. They can change their name.”
Although ISIS the terrorist organization isn’t likely to disappear from the news cycle soon, ISIS Pharmaceuticals changing its name will likely take longer. Meanwhile, the company’s stock seems to be doing reasonable well.
