Overview of Company
Where are you located?
1896 Rutherford Road
Carlsbad, CA 92008
(Carlsbad is approximately 35 miles north of downtown San Diego.)
How many employees work at Isis?
Isis currently has approximately 275 employees.
Can you provide a brief description of your Company? Founded in 1989, 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™ 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.
What are antisense drugs?
At least 12 known antisense mechanisms, such as RNase H, siRNA,
and splicing, can be induced once an antisense drug binds to its
target RNA. Isis has created proprietary chemical modifications
to exploit many of these mechanisms for drug discovery. As its understanding
of these mechanisms further improves, the Company expects to develop
antisense drugs with enhanced performance and for broader therapeutic
applications.
An antisense mechanism is defined as the process in which an antisense inhibitor binds (hybridizes) to a target RNA to form a duplex. The formation of this duplex, or two-stranded molecule, prevents the RNA from functioning normally and from producing a protein product.
Progress in Isis’ mechanism of action research program is illustrated by the Company’s accomplishments in understanding RNase H. The majority of late-stage antisense drugs in development bind to their target RNA to form a duplex, which activates a cellular enzyme called RNase H. This enzyme destroys the target RNA, inhibiting production of a specific protein. Isis has cloned and characterized human RNase H and has effectively used that information to design its proprietary second-generation drugs. The Company expects to further improve on its drugs, using its insights into the RNase H mechanism.
In addition to its RNase H expertise, Isis has made advancements
in understanding and exploiting other antisense mechanisms such
as siRNA and splicing.
On what areas of research do you
focus?
Isis’ antisense drugs can be designed to treat a wide range
of conditions.Isis’ drug development programs are focused on treating cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Isis’ partners are developing drugs for a wide variety of diseases. Isis' drug discovery
efforts will continue to focus on organs of the body where antisense
drugs readily distribute: liver, kidney, spleen, bone marrow and
fat cells. These sites of activity give Isis broad opportunities
to treat disease. Scientists have extensively explored medicinal
chemistries and created Isis’ proprietary second-generation
antisense compounds (2'-O-methoxyethyl) that offer increased
potency, stability and potential for oral bioavailability. The Company
has also made significant progress in developing new formulations
(aerosol, enema, intrathecal, intravenous, subcutaneous, intravitreal,
oral and topical) of antisense drugs, which have expanded the ability to
tackle chronic diseases. Additionally, Isis maintains its commitment
to core technology research in areas such as antisense mechanisms
of action and pharmacodynamics (the study of the action of a drug
in the body over a period of time).
What products do you have in your
pipeline?
The Company has commercialized its first product, Vitravene®
(fomivirsen), to treat CMV-induced retinitis in AIDS patients. In
addition, Isis has 18 drugs in its development pipeline.
Please visit the pipeline section for more details.
Where can I get information about
current clinical trials?
For information on clinical
trials, please read the clinical trial section of this web site.
If you need additional information, call Isis’ Clinical Trials
Hotline at 800-679-ISIS (4747) and leave a message or e-mail our
medical information team at trialinfo@isisph.com.
What is Ibis?
Ibis Biosciences, Inc, a majority-owned subsidiary of Isis Pharmaceuticals, has developed and is commercializing the Ibis T5000™ 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, including through its partner, Bruker Daltonics, a subsidiary of Bruker BioSciences Corporation. Ibis is a product of Isis' innovation and research that has generated nearly $70 million in revenue from various government agencies to develop its Ibis T5000 Biosensor System and related assay kits.
Additional information about Ibis Biosciences be found here.
When and where is Isis presenting
at investment and medical conferences?
Please see Isis' calendar of events.
Financial
When was the Company founded and when did it go public?
Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1989. Isis conducted its initial public offering two years later in 1991.
What is Isis' stock symbol and what exchange is it traded on?
Isis is traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol ISIS. Please note that prior to February 21, 2002 the Company's symbol was ISIP.
How many shares are outstanding?
The number of shares of voting common stock outstanding as of November 5, 2007 was approximately 87.0 million.
How can I purchase shares?
To purchase Isis stock you may use the broker of your choice. Isis does not offer a direct stock purchase plan.
How can I get a copy of your annual
report?
To view a PDF file of the 2006 or previous annual reports click
here. If you would like to receive a hard copy of any of Isis’
annual reports, please e-mail your request along with your name
and address to info@isisph.com.
Human Resources
To whom do I send my resume?
Please submit your resume online through our employment section.
Where can I view career opportunities?
You may see all current opportunities and submit your resume online through our employment section.