LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / July 19, 2017 / Pro-Trader Daily takes a look at the latest corporate events and news making the headlines for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: IONS), following which we have published a free report that can be viewed by signing up at http://protraderdaily.com/optin/?symbol=IONS. The Company announced on July 17, 2017, that it has earned a $10 million milestone payment from Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) associated with the validation of an undisclosed neurological disease target. The Company's collaboration with Biogen has generated a combined total of nearly $650 million to date. For immediate access to our complimentary reports, including today's coverage, register for free now at:

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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 US, EU, Japan, and Canada for the treatment of patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Biogen is responsible for commercializing SPINRAZA.

Ionis and Biogen are also 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.

"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."

IPO of Akcea Therapeutics

On July 13, 2017, Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., a subsidiary of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 15,625,000 shares common stock at a public offering price of $8.00 per share, for gross proceeds of $125.0 million before underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses to be paid by Akcea. In addition, Akcea has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 2,343,750 additional shares of common stock at the public offering price, less underwriting discount, and commissions, to cover over-allotments, if any.

Furthermore, Novartis Pharma AG has agreed to purchase $50.0 million of Akcea's common stock in a separate private placement concurrent with the completion of the initial public offering at a price per share equal to the initial public offering price.

About Ionis Pharmaceutical

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.

The Company's 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.

Last Close Stock Review

At the closing bell, on Tuesday, July 18, 2017, Ionis Pharma's stock rose 1.75%, ending the trading session at $53.94. A total volume of 1.42 million shares has exchanged hands, which was higher than the 3-month average volume of 1.38 million shares. The Company's stock price skyrocketed 27.40% in the last three months, 15.70% in the past six months, and 94.80% in the previous twelve months. Moreover, the stock rallied 12.77% since the start of the year. The stock currently has a market cap of $6.70 billion.

On Tuesday, July 18, 2017, the stock closed the trading session at $282.60, marginally down 0.02% from its previous closing price of $282.65. A total volume of 1.12 million shares has exchanged hands. Biogen's stock price surged 4.22% in the last three months, 8.41% in the past six months, and 17.33% in the previous twelve months. Furthermore, since the start of the year, shares of the Company have gained 8.19%. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 17.72. At Tuesday's closing price, the stock's net capitalization stands at $60.93 billion.

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