CARLSBAD, Calif., July 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ionis
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: IONS) announced today that it has
earned a $10 million milestone
payment from Biogen associated with the validation of an
undisclosed neurological disease target. Ionis and Biogen have a
broad strategic collaboration to develop drugs to treat patients
with neurological disorders. Ionis will continue to evaluate this
newest target with the goal of advancing this program into
development.
"We continue to make substantial progress in validating new
targets and developing new drugs for neurological diseases using
our antisense technology. SPINRAZA, the first drug to come out of
our neurology collaboration with Biogen, exemplifies the potential
of our antisense technology in the neurological disease space. To
date, our collaboration with Biogen has generated a combined total
of nearly $650 million," said
B. Lynne Parshall, chief operating
officer at Ionis Pharmaceuticals. "As we continue to advance our
neurological disease pipeline, we look forward to bringing
additional important medicines to patients suffering from
neurodegenerative diseases."
ABOUT IONIS' STRATEGIC COLLABORATION WITH BIOGEN
Ionis and Biogen have a broad strategic collaboration combining
Biogen's expertise in neurology with Ionis' leadership in antisense
technology to develop novel therapies to treat neurological
disorders. Ionis is primarily responsible for drug discovery and
early development of antisense therapies. Biogen has the option to
license each antisense program at a particular stage in
development. Under this collaboration, Ionis developed and licensed
SPINRAZA to Biogen. SPINRAZA is approved in the U.S., EU,
Japan and Canada for the treatment of patients with
spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Also under this collaboration, Ionis
and Biogen are developing IONIS-SOD1Rx to treat
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, IONIS-MAPTRx to treat
Alzheimer's Disease, and IONIS-BIIB5Rx,
IONIS-BIIB6Rx and IONIS-BIIB7Rx to treat
undisclosed neurodegenerative diseases. In addition to these six
drugs, Ionis and Biogen have numerous opportunities to evaluate
additional targets for the development of drugs to treat
neurological disorders.
ABOUT IONIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
Ionis is the leading company in RNA-targeted drug discovery and
development focused on developing drugs for patients who have the
highest unmet medical needs, such as those patients with severe and
rare diseases. Using its proprietary antisense technology, Ionis
has created a large pipeline of first-in-class or best-in-class
drugs, with over three dozen drugs in development.
SPINRAZA® (nusinersen) is a drug that has been approved
in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Canada for the treatment of spinal muscular
atrophy (SMA). Biogen is responsible for commercializing SPINRAZA.
Drugs that have successfully completed Phase 3 studies include
volanesorsen, a drug Ionis is developing and plans to commercialize
through its subsidiary, Akcea Therapeutics, to treat patients with
either familial chylomicronemia syndrome or familial partial
lipodystrophy; and inotersen (IONIS-TTRRx), a drug Ionis
is developing with GSK to treat patients with TTR amyloidosis. Both
drugs are progressing toward regulatory filings in the second half
of 2017. Ionis' patents provide strong and extensive protection for
its drugs and technology. Additional information about Ionis is
available at www.ionispharma.com.
IONIS' FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT
This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding
Ionis' relationship with Biogen and the discovery, development,
activity, therapeutic potential, safety and commercialization of
drugs under Ionis' relationship with Biogen. Any statement
describing Ionis' goals, expectations, financial or other
projections, intentions or beliefs 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. Ionis' 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 Ionis'
forward-looking statements reflect the good faith judgment of its
management, these statements are based only on facts and factors
currently known by Ionis. As a result, you are cautioned not to
rely on these forward-looking statements. These and other risks
concerning Ionis' programs are described in additional detail in
Ionis' annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, 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,
"Ionis," "Company," "we," "our," and "us" refers to Ionis
Pharmaceuticals and its subsidiaries.
Ionis Pharmaceuticals™ is a trademark of Ionis Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. Akcea Therapeutics™ is a trademark of Ionis Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. SPINRAZA® is a registered trademark of Biogen.
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SOURCE Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.