CARLSBAD, Calif., Sept. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Isis Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (Nasdaq: ISIS) announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Ibis
Biosciences, Inc. (Ibis), has been awarded four new government contracts
totaling up to
"We are pleased with the ongoing government support and the opportunity to continue to advance our technology and applications in the biodefense arena," said Michael Treble, President of Ibis and Vice President of Isis. "These contracts support the Ibis business model to commercialize the Ibis T5000 in multiple business sectors, including government biodefense and infectious disease surveillance, healthcare-associated infection control, infectious disease research and, in the future, in vitro diagnostics."
As part of the contracts awarded by DHS-S&T, Ibis will continue to develop broad biological applications to identify and characterize important bacterial and viral agents that are considered crucial to maintain homeland security. Ibis will also use the funding to advance the application of the Ibis T5000 system in microbial forensics, a type of forensics used in the investigation of crimes involving infectious organisms. Under the DTRA contract, Ibis will broaden its core technology in the area of biodefense through advances in sample preparation to allow detection of trace amounts of broad groups of microbial agents.
ABOUT THE IBIS T5000 BIOSENSOR SYSTEM AND IBIS BIOSCIENCES, INC.
Ibis Biosciences, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Isis Pharmaceuticals, has developed the Ibis T5000 Biosensor System for rapid identification and characterization of infectious agents. 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. Bruker Daltonics, a subsidiary of Bruker BioSciences Corporation, is globally responsible for manufacture, order processing, installation and service of Ibis T5000 instruments. Ibis Biosciences develops, manufactures and markets Ibis T5000 assay kits. Additional information about Ibis Biosciences can be found by selecting the Ibis Biosciences link from Isis' homepage at http://www.isispharm.com.
Ibis Biosciences has received development funding from U.S. government agencies including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and others.
ABOUT ISIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
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 17 drugs in development. Isis' drug development programs are focused on treating cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Isis' partners are developing drugs for a wide variety of diseases. Ibis Biosciences, Inc., Isis' wholly owned subsidiary, is developing and commercializing the Ibis T5000(TM) Biosensor System, a revolutionary system to identify infectious organisms. As an innovator in RNA-based drug discovery and development, Isis is the owner or exclusive licensee of over 1,500 issued patents worldwide. Additional information about Isis is available at http://www.isispharm.com.
This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding the development and commercialization of the Ibis T5000 Biosensor System, Ibis' technology, and the revenue potential of certain government contracts. Any statement describing Isis' goals, expectations, financial or other projections, intentions or beliefs is a forward-looking statement and should be considered an at-risk statement, including those statements that are described as Isis' goals or projections. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, particularly those inherent in the process of discovering, developing and commercializing drugs that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics, in developing and commercializing systems to identify infectious organisms that are effective and commercially attractive, and in the endeavor of building a business around such products. Isis' 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 Isis' forward-looking statements reflect the good faith judgment of its management, these statements are based only on facts and factors currently known by Isis. As a result, you are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These and other risks concerning Isis' programs are described in additional detail in Isis' annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 , and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 , which are on file with the SEC. Copies of this and other documents are available from the Company.
In this press release, unless the context requires otherwise, "Isis," "Company," "we," "our," and "us" refers to Isis Pharmaceuticals and its subsidiaries.
Isis Pharmaceuticals, Ibis Biosciences and Ibis T5000 are registered trademarks or trademarks of Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
SOURCE Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
