Isis Reports Financial Results and Highlights for 2010
- Conference Call Webcast Monday February 28, 4:30 p.m. ET at www.isispharm.com
prnewswire
Press Release Source: Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. On Monday February 28, 2011, 4:00 pm EST
CARLSBAD, Calif., Feb. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ISIS - News) today announced its 2010 financial results and reviewed the highlights of the year. Isis improved upon its 2010 financial guidance with a pro forma net operating loss (NOL) of $36.2 million, which is significantly better than the mid to high $40 million range pro forma NOL the Company projected. Isis also exceeded its cash guidance by ending 2010 with $472.4 million of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments in excess of the $450 million projected.
"2010 was another strong year for Isis. We exceeded our financial guidance for the year while continuing to significantly advance all areas of our business. Our most notable accomplishment was the successful completion of the initial Phase 3 program for mipomersen, which brings this important medicine closer to commercialization. In addition to progress on mipomersen, we expanded and advanced our drug pipeline, added an experienced partner for our severe and rare disease franchise and advanced our technology to help ensure that we remain the leader in antisense drug discovery and development," said B. Lynne Parshall, COO and CFO of Isis.
"Mipomersen's success sets the stage for an exciting year to come. 2011 will mark a turning point for us as we move mipomersen toward commercial markets, advance new drugs based on our next-generation chemistry and continue to progress our existing drugs through clinical trials toward the market. Our clinical development activities will remain an area of significant focus for us this year. Nevertheless, we expect our operating expenses to be similar to 2010. As our mipomersen expenses decrease, we expect to use the savings to increase our investment in the other drugs in our pipeline. We believe that our investments in our technology and pipeline can generate future value for our shareholders. We are projecting a pro forma NOL for 2011 in the low $40 million range, an improvement over our guidance for last year. Based on our cash and committed cash, we expect to end 2011 with more than $350 million in cash. As in 2010, our guidance is not based on the establishment of new partnerships so the addition of a new partner could favorably impact this guidance. As we did last year, we will continue to be selective in our partnering to maintain consistency with our goal of controlling our drugs until they reach key value points," added Ms. Parshall.
Upcoming Key Milestones
* Genzyme expects to file for marketing approval for mipomersen in Europe in the first half of 2011 and in the United States in 2011.
* Genzyme and Isis plan to report the full data from the positive Phase 3 study evaluating mipomersen in patients with severe hypercholesterolemia and in high-cholesterol patients at high risk for coronary heart disease.
* Isis plans to complete and report data from the Phase 1 study of ISIS-SGLT2Rx and begin Phase 2 programs for ISIS-CRPRx and ISIS-SGLT2Rx.
* Isis plans to begin clinical development for ISIS-GSK1Rx, the first drug in development under Isis' partnership with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)..... |
