CARLSBAD, Calif., Jan. 26,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Nasdaq: IONS) today announced that Chief Scientific Officer
C. Frank Bennett, Ph.D., has been
named a co-recipient of the Rainwater Prize for Outstanding
Innovation in Neurodegenerative Disease Research. Dr. Bennett
shares this year's prize with Don W.
Cleveland, Ph.D., chair and distinguished professor of
cellular and molecular medicine at University
of California, San Diego and Timothy
M. Miller, M.D., Ph.D., vice chair of research and
David Clayson professor of neurology
at Washington University School of
Medicine. The prizes will be presented during the Eurotau 2023
conference on April 27, 2023, in
Lille, France.
Drs. Bennett, Cleveland and Miller are being recognized for
their work advancing antisense technology for the treatment of
neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
(ALS), Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease and tauopathies.
Their long-term collaboration has resulted in four investigational
medicines entering clinical studies, including tofersen, currently
under regulatory review for market authorization for the treatment
of SOD1-ALS, with a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action
date of April 25, 2023; tominersen,
currently in a Phase 2 clinical study for the treatment of
Huntington's Disease; and IONIS-MAPTRx/BIIB080, for the
treatment of Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal degeneration and
progressive supranuclear palsy. The foundational science the team
established was pivotal to the advancement of SPINRAZA®
(nusinersen), for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy, into
clinical studies and ultimately approval in 2016.
"I'm humbled to be recognized by the Rainwater Charitable
Foundation with this prestigious award. It represents an
affirmation for the work that everyone at Ionis is doing to deliver
transformational genetic medicines to patients battling grave
diseases," said Dr. Bennett. "I am equally honored to share the
prize with my esteemed colleagues, Drs. Cleveland and Miller, whose
expertise, dedication and tireless efforts have contributed
significantly to bringing hope to patients and their families."
A founding member of Ionis, Dr. Bennett is responsible for
continuing to advance Ionis' technology and expand its discovery
platform. He is also the franchise leader for the gene editing
program at Ionis. In 2020, Dr. Bennett received the Lifetime
Achievement Award from the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society. In
2019, he was a co-recipient of the Breakthrough Prize in Life
Sciences for his contributions to the discovery and development of
SPINRAZA (with Adrian Krainer,
Ph.D.) and a co-recipient of the inaugural Healy Center
International Prize for Innovation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
(ALS). Dr. Bennett also received the 2018 Hereditary Disease
Foundation's Leslie Gehry Brenner Prize for Innovation in Science
for his leadership and continued commitment to developing antisense
therapies for Huntington's disease. He has been involved in the
development of antisense oligonucleotides as therapeutic agents,
including research on the application of oligonucleotides for
inflammatory, neurodegenerative diseases, oligonucleotide delivery,
pharmacokinetics and medicinal chemistry. Dr. Bennett, who is on
the global list of Highly Cited Researchers™ – recognizing
scientists whose peer-reviewed papers rank in the top 1% by
citations for field and publication year – has published more than
230 papers in the field of antisense research and development and
he is an inventor on more than 175 issued patents.
The Rainwater Prize Program recognizes scientific progress
toward new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases associated
with the accumulation of tau protein in the brain and fosters
scientific discovery by elevating awareness of the gaps in
neurodegenerative research, bringing new researchers into the
tauopathy field, and awarding scientific achievements that could
lead to innovative, effective treatments.
About Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
For more than 30 years, Ionis has been the leader in
RNA-targeted therapy, pioneering new markets and changing standards
of care with its novel antisense technology. Ionis currently has
three marketed medicines and a premier late-stage pipeline
highlighted by industry-leading cardiovascular and neurological
franchises. Our scientific innovation began and continues with the
knowledge that sick people depend on us, which fuels our vision to
become the leader in genetic medicine, utilizing a multi-platform
approach to discover, develop and deliver life-transforming
therapies.
To learn more about Ionis visit www.ionispharma.com and follow
us on Twitter @ionispharma.
SPINRAZA®, tofersen and
IONIS-MAPTRx/BIIB080 are licensed to Biogen.
Tominersen is licensed to Roche.
Ionis' Forward-looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding
Ionis' business and the therapeutic and commercial potential of
Ionis' technologies, SPINRAZA, tofersen, tominersen,
IONIS-MAPTRx /BIIB080 and other products in development.
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,
including those related to the impact COVID-19 could have on our
business, and including but not limited to, those related to our
commercial products and the medicines in our pipeline, and
particularly those inherent in the process of discovering,
developing and commercializing medicines that are safe and
effective for use as human therapeutics, and in the endeavor of
building a business around such medicines. 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 Dec. 31, 2021, and the most
recent Form 10-Q quarterly filing, which are on file with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. 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.
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SOURCE Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.