CARLSBAD, Calif., May 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it will receive $4.6 million dollars from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as its portion of the upfront fees in the recently announced transaction between Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and Alnylam. In addition, Isis has the potential to receive portions of future milestone and royalty payments. This transaction further emphasizes the value of Isis’ innovation and the leadership role Isis has played in the field of nucleic acid based therapeutics.
Isis owns or controls more than 1,500 issued patents, through which it has generated well over $100 million in licensing fees. In 2004, Isis and Alnylam entered into a strategic relationship in which Alnylam obtained an exclusive license to Isis’ intellectual property for double-stranded oligonucleotide therapeutics that mediate RNAi. In return, Isis received an upfront payment and financial participation in future transactions supported by Isis’ patents.
“Isis’ innovation in RNA based drug discovery has created a foundation through our extensive patent position that we have been able to exploit with our unique business strategy. Over the past four years we have enjoyed a productive collaboration with Alnylam. Our technology supports RNA-based drug discovery efforts for both companies, as well as those focused on microRNAs through our joint venture, Regulus Therapeutics. Working together we have made significant advances creating drugs based on the RNAi mechanism. Isis has benefited substantially from Alnylam’s business development and financial successes. We look forward to additional successes from this valuable strategic relationship,” said Stan Crooke, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. “Our pioneering efforts in developing nucleic acid based drugs have resulted in a very broad and valuable patent estate. The breadth and depth of our patent estate has allowed us to create a number of strategic relationships such as the one we have with Alnylam that ensure our continued leadership in the field. This transaction further underscores the value of our innovation and strategy.”
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 18 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 Isis’ collaboration with Genzyme Corporation, its financial and business development activities, and the development, activity, therapeutic potential and safety of mipomersen in treating patients with high cholesterol. 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. 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 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 quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, which are on file with the SEC. Copies of this 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.
CONTACT: Kristina Lemonidis, Associate Director, Investor Relations,
+1-760-603-2490, or Amy Blackley, Ph.D., Manager, Corporate Communications,
+1-760-603-2772, both of Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Web site: http://www.isispharm.com//
