Ibis and collaborators will present data demonstrating the efficiency of the Ibis technology to quickly identify serious bacterial and viral infectious pathogens that are prevalent in health care settings, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, C. difficile, and A. baumannii. Using the Ibis T5000 system, scientists were able to provide key information on each agent, including strain type and genetic factors that control pathogenicity, in as few as six hours, a timeframe that would likely enable a health care facility to effectively control the infection.
"We have found the Ibis technology to be a valuable adjunct to our outbreak investigations," said Maureen Bolon, M.D., Medical Director of the Antibiotic Utilization Team and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University, when commenting on Ibis' ability to detect and characterize HAI agents.
Ibis and collaborators are also presenting recent advances in the Ibis T5000's broad pathogen identification capabilities that provide a foundation for future clinical diagnostic products, including major viruses that cause respiratory disease. During the meeting, Ibis' collaborator, Dr. Kuan-Fu Chen from Johns Hopkins University will present the broad viral surveillance capabilities of the Ibis T5000 to detect all major viral pathogens that cause respiratory disease. In addition, Ibis will highlight recent advances in the application of its technology to understand influenza transmission and to profile and characterize drug-resistant tuberculosis."We continue to broaden the applicability of the Ibis T5000 system in infectious disease detection and surveillance for use in hospital or clinical settings. The amount of information the Ibis T5000 is able to provide about any infectious pathogen exceeds existing commercial capabilities and will provide health care facilitators with information they need in order to react and control HAI quickly and effectively," said David J. Ecker, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Ibis. "In addition, we are establishing the foundation for our clinical diagnostic product offerings by advancing our broad pathogen detection and characterization capabilities, beginning with the important viruses that can cause respiratory diseases, including avian flu."
In addition to presenting pathogen detection advances, Ibis will provide development plans for Ibis' next-generation instrument platform, which will build upon Ibis' current technology and be tailored for use in a clinical diagnostic setting.Isis' Ibis Biosciences Subsidiary Highlights the Power of the Ibis T5000 Pathogen Identification and Characterization System at the ICAAC/IDSA Meeting
"We are extremely pleased with the progress we are making to expand our product offerings, including advancing our capabilities for healthcare-associated infection detection and moving into the larger market opportunity of clinical diagnostics. Our plans for the next-generation instrument reflect our commitment to maximize the commercial potential of our technology. We plan to launch the instrument platform next year to keep pace with assay kit products we are developing for clinical diagnostic uses," said Michael Treble, President of Ibis.
This year the ICAAC/IDSA meeting plans to host more than 12,000 attendees comprising physicians, clinicians and researchers working in the fields of clinical diagnostics, drug discovery and microbiology. For more information on Ibis involvement at the 48th Annual ICAAC/46th Annual IDSA Meeting, please visit the Ibis Web site at http://www.ibisbiosciences.com.
ABOUT IBIS T5000 BIOSENSOR SYSTEM AND IBIS BIOSCIENCES, INC.
Ibis Biosciences, Inc., a majority-owned subsidiary of Isis Pharmaceuticals, has developed and is commercializing the Ibis T5000(TM) Biosensor System for rapid identification and characterization of infectious agents. The Ibis T5000 is currently intended for research use only and not for use in diagnostic procedures. It is capable of identifying virtually all bacteria, viruses and fungi, and can provide information about drug resistance, virulence and strain type of these pathogens. Commercial applications for the Ibis T5000 Biosensor System include epidemiologic surveillance, monitoring of pandemic diseases, identification of emerging or previously unknown pathogens, forensic characterization of human samples, identification of sources of hospital-associated infections, and, in the future, human infectious disease diagnostics. Ibis develops, manufactures and markets Ibis T5000 instruments and assay kits. Ibis has entered into a distribution relationship under which Abbott will be selling Ibis products. Additional information about Ibis can be found by selecting the Ibis link from Isis' homepage at http://www.isispharm.com.
ABOUT ISIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
Isis is exploiting its expertise in RNA to discover and develop novel drugs for its product pipeline and for its partners. The Company has successfully commercialized the world's first antisense drug and has 19 drugs in development. Isis' drug development programs are focused on treating cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Isis' partners are developing antisense drugs invented by Isis to treat a wide variety of diseases. Ibis Biosciences, Inc., Isis' majority-owned subsidiary, is developing and commercializing the Ibis T5000(TM) Biosensor System, a revolutionary system to identify infectious organisms. Isis is a joint owner of Regulus Therapeutics LLC, a joint venture focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of microRNA therapeutics. As an innovator in RNA-based drug discovery and development, Isis is the owner or exclusive licensee of over 1,500 issued patents worldwide. Additional information about Isis is available at http://www.isispharm.com.
This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding the development and commercialization of the Ibis T5000 Biosensor System and Ibis' next-generation instrument platform. Any statement describing Isis' goals, expectations, financial or other projections, intentions or beliefs is a forward-looking statement and should be considered an at-risk statement, including those statements that are described as Isis' goals or projections. 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, in developing and commercializing systems to identify infectious organisms that are effective and commercially attractive, and in the endeavor building a business around such products. 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, 2007, 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. Ibis Biosciences and Ibis T5000 are trademarks of Ibis Biosciences, Inc. Regulus Therapeutics is a trademark of Regulus Therapeutics LLC.
