Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a drug discovery and development company focused on the therapeutic target RNA and developing products from RNA-based technologies, such as antisense. Antisense drugs are the first class of drugs targeted to control expression of genes through interactions with RNA. Beyond antisense, Isis scientists have created another technology that exploits their knowledge of RNA. Ibis Biosciences, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Isis, has developed and is commercializing the Ibis T5000 Biosensor System for rapid identification and characterization of organisms. The Ibis T5000 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. The company has over 1,500 issued patents worldwide and controls one of the largest antisense and RNA patent estates in the pharmaceutical industry. As of December 31, 2006, Isis has recognized over $77 million from licensing its intellectual property. The company was founded in 1989 and employs roughly 275 people.

Antisense Technology

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