Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., the Carlsbad-based pioneer of antisense technology, said Nov. 8 it swung to a profit in the third quarter largely due to a $26.5 million license payment from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Alnylam sublicensed Isis’ technology to Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche.
Isis reported a third-quarter net income of $20 million on revenues of $38.6 million. That compared to a net loss of $12.1 million a year ago on revenues of $3.3 million.
Its net loss for the nine months ended Sept. 30 was $4 million, compared with a net loss of $31.8 million during the same period a year ago.
Executive vice president and chief financial officer Lynne Parshall attributed much of Isis’ improved financial condition to the partnerships it formed with large drug companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ortho-McNeil Inc.
Isis also said it initiated a late-stage clinical trial of its cholesterol-lowering drug mipomersen, formerly known as Isis 301012.
Traded under the symbol ISIS on the Nasdaq, shares fell 69 cents, or 4 percent, to $15.69 in midday trading.
, Heather Chambers
