IONIS PHARMACEUTICALS INC - Quarter Report: 2015 March (Form 10-Q)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

Form 10-Q

(Mark One)



QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Quarterly Period Ended March 31, 2015

OR



TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from to

Commission file number 0-19125

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

2855 Gazelle Court, Carlsbad, CA 92010

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

760-931-9200

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Common Stock, $.001 Par Value

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes  No 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes  No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12(b)-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934). Yes  No 

The number of shares of voting common stock outstanding as of April 30, 2015 was 119,713,341.

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ISIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

FORM 10-Q

INDEX

TRADEMARKS

Isis Pharmaceuticals^® is a registered trademark of Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Akcea Therapeutics™ is a trademark of Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Regulus Therapeutics™ is a trademark of Regulus Therapeutics Inc.

KYNAMRO^® is a registered trademark of Genzyme Corporation

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ISIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands, except share data)

See accompanying notes.

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ISIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in thousands, except for per share amounts)

(Unaudited)

 

                          See accompanying notes.

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ISIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS

(in thousands)

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes.

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ISIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(in thousands)

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes.

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ISIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

March 31, 2015

(Unaudited)

1.

Basis of Presentation

The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 have been prepared on the same basis as the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2014. The financial statements include all normal recurring adjustments, which we consider necessary for a fair presentation of our financial position at such dates and our operating results and cash flows for those periods. Results for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results for the entire year. For more complete financial information, these financial statements, and notes thereto, should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2014 included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC.

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("we", "us" or "our") and our wholly owned subsidiary, Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., which we formed in December 2014.

2.

Significant Accounting Policies

Revenue Recognition

We generally recognize revenue when we have satisfied all contractual obligations and are reasonably assured of collecting the resulting receivable. We are often entitled to bill our customers and receive payment from our customers in advance of recognizing the revenue. In the instances in which we have received payment from our customers in advance of recognizing revenue, we include the amounts in deferred revenue on our consolidated balance sheet.

Our collaboration agreements typically contain multiple elements, or deliverables, including technology licenses or options to obtain technology licenses, research and development services, and in certain cases manufacturing services, and we allocate the consideration to each unit of accounting based on the relative selling price of each deliverable.

Identifying deliverables and units of accounting

We evaluate the deliverables in our collaboration agreements to determine whether they meet the criteria to be accounted for as separate units of accounting or whether they should be combined with other deliverables and accounted for as a single unit of accounting. When the delivered items in an arrangement have "stand-alone value" to our customer, we account for the deliverables as separate units of accounting. For example, in December 2012, we entered into a global collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca to discover and develop antisense drugs against five cancer targets. As part of the collaboration, we received a $25 million upfront payment in December 2012 and a $6 million payment in June 2013 when AstraZeneca elected to continue the research collaboration. We are also eligible to receive milestone payments, license fees for the research program targets and royalties on any product sales of drugs resulting from this collaboration. In exchange, we granted AstraZeneca an exclusive license to develop and commercialize ISIS-STAT3-2.5_Rx and ISIS-AR-2.5_Rx. We also granted AstraZeneca options to license up to three cancer drugs under the separate research program. We were responsible for completing IND-enabling studies for ISIS-AR-2.5_Rx, which we completed in early 2014. We were also responsible for completing an ongoing clinical study of ISIS-STAT3-2.5_Rx, which we substantially completed in the first quarter of 2015. AstraZeneca is responsible for all other global development, regulatory and commercialization activities for ISIS-STAT3-2.5_Rx and ISIS-AR-2.5_Rx. In addition, if AstraZeneca exercises its option for any drugs resulting from the research program, AstraZeneca will assume global development, regulatory and commercialization responsibilities for such drug. Since this agreement has multiple elements, we evaluated the deliverables in this arrangement when we entered into the agreement and determined that certain deliverables, either individually or in combination, have stand-alone value. Below is a list of the four separate units of accounting under our agreement:



The exclusive license we granted to AstraZeneca to develop and commercialize ISIS-STAT3-2.5Rx for the treatment of cancer;



The development services we agreed to perform for ISIS-STAT3-2.5Rx;



The exclusive license we granted to AstraZeneca to develop and commercialize ISIS-AR-2.5Rx and the research services we performed for ISIS-AR-2.5Rx; and



The option to license up to three drugs under a research program and the research services we are performing for this program.

Measurement and allocation of arrangement consideration

Our collaborations may provide for various types of payments to us including upfront payments, funding of research and development, milestone payments, licensing fees, profit sharing and royalties on product sales. We initially allocate the amount of consideration that is fixed and determinable at the time the agreement is entered into and exclude contingent consideration. We allocate the consideration to each unit of accounting based on the relative selling price of each deliverable. Delivered items have stand-alone value if they are sold separately by any vendor or the customer could resell the delivered items on a stand-alone basis. We use the following hierarchy of values to estimate the selling price of each deliverable: (i) vendor-specific objective evidence of fair value; (ii) third-party evidence of selling price; and (iii) best estimate of selling price, or BESP. The BESP reflects our best estimate of what the selling price would be if we regularly sold the deliverable on a stand-alone basis. We recognize the revenue allocated to each unit of accounting as we deliver the related goods or services. If we determine that we should treat certain deliverables as a single unit of accounting, then we recognize the revenue ratably over our estimated period of performance.

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We determined that the ISIS-STAT3-2.5_Rx license had stand-alone value because it is an exclusive license that gives AstraZeneca the right to develop ISIS-STAT3-2.5_Rx or to sublicense its rights. In addition, ISIS-STAT3-2.5_Rx is currently in development and it is possible that AstraZeneca or another third party could conduct clinical trials without assistance from us. As a result, we considered the ISIS-STAT3-2.5_Rx license and the development services for ISIS-STAT3-2.5_Rx to be separate units of accounting. We recognized the portion of the consideration allocated to the ISIS-STAT3-2.5_Rx license immediately because we delivered the license and earned the revenue. We recognized as revenue the amount allocated to the development services for ISIS-STAT3-2.5_Rx over the period of time we performed services. The ISIS-AR-2.5_Rx license is also an exclusive license. At the inception of the agreement, ISIS-AR-2.5_Rx was in an early stage of research. Therefore, we concluded that our knowledge and expertise with antisense technology was essential for AstraZeneca or another third party to successfully develop ISIS-AR-2.5_Rx. As a result, we determined that the ISIS-AR-2.5_Rx license did not have stand-alone value and we combined the ISIS-AR-2.5_Rx license and related research services into one unit of accounting. We recognized revenue for the combined unit of accounting over the period of time we performed services, which ended in the first quarter of 2014. We determined that the options under the research program did not have stand-alone value because AstraZeneca cannot develop or commercialize drugs resulting from the research program until AstraZeneca exercises the respective option or options. As a result, we considered the research options and the related research services as a combined unit of accounting. We are recognizing revenue for the combined unit of accounting over the period of our performance.

We determined that the allocable arrangement consideration was $31 million and we allocated it based on the relative BESP of each unit of accounting. We engaged a third party, independent valuation expert to assist us with determining BESP. We estimated the selling price of the licenses granted for ISIS-STAT3-2.5_Rx and ISIS-AR-2.5_Rx by using the relief from royalty method. Under this method, we estimated the amount of income, net of taxes, for each drug. We then discounted the projected income for each license to present value. The significant inputs we used to determine the projected income of the licenses included:



Estimated future product sales;



Estimated royalties on future product sales;



Contractual milestone payments;



Expenses we expect to incur;



Income taxes; and



An appropriate discount rate.

We estimated the selling price of the research and development services by using our internal estimates of the cost to perform the specific services, marked up to include a reasonable profit margin, and estimates of expected cash outflows to third parties for services and supplies over the expected period that we will perform research and development. The significant inputs we used to determine the selling price of the research and development services included:



The number of internal hours we will spend performing these services;



The estimated number and cost of studies we will perform;



The estimated number and cost of studies that we will contract with third parties to perform; and



The estimated cost of drug product we will use in the studies.

Timing of revenue recognition

We recognize revenue over the period of our performance for each deliverable when we determine that it is realized or realizable and earned. Typically, we must estimate our period of performance when the agreements we enter into do not clearly define such information. Our collaborative agreements typically include a research and/or development project plan outlining the activities the agreement requires each party to perform during the collaboration. We estimate the period of time over which we will complete the activities for which we are responsible and use that period of time as our period of performance for purposes of revenue recognition and recognize revenue ratably over such period. We have made estimates of our continuing obligations under numerous agreements and in certain instances the timing of satisfying these obligations may change as the development plans for our drugs progress. Accordingly, our estimates may change in the future. If our estimates and judgments change over the course of these agreements, it may affect the timing and amount of revenue that we recognize in future periods.

From time to time, we may enter into separate agreements at or near the same time with the same customer. We evaluate such agreements to determine whether they should be accounted for individually as distinct arrangements or whether the separate agreements are, in substance, a single multiple element arrangement. We evaluate whether the negotiations are conducted jointly as part of a single negotiation, whether the deliverables are interrelated or interdependent, whether fees in one arrangement are tied to performance in another arrangement, and whether elements in one arrangement are essential to another arrangement. Our evaluation involves significant judgment to determine whether a group of agreements might be so closely related that they are, in effect, part of a single arrangement. For example, since early 2012 we have entered into four collaboration agreements with Biogen:



In January 2012, we entered into a collaboration agreement with Biogen to develop and commercialize ISIS-SMNRx for spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA. As part of the collaboration, we received a $29 million upfront payment and we are responsible for global development of ISIS-SMNRx through completion of Phase 2/3 clinical trials.



In June 2012, we entered into a second and separate collaboration agreement with Biogen to develop and commercialize a novel antisense drug targeting DMPK, or dystrophia myotonica-protein kinase. As part of the collaboration, we received a $12 million upfront payment and we are responsible for global development of the drug through the completion of a Phase 2 clinical trial.

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

In December 2012, we entered into a third and separate collaboration agreement with Biogen to discover and develop antisense drugs against three targets to treat neurological or neuromuscular disorders. As part of the collaboration, we received $30 million upfront payment and we are responsible for the discovery of a lead antisense drug for each of three targets.



In September 2013, we entered into a fourth and separate collaboration agreement with Biogen to leverage antisense technology to advance the treatment of neurological diseases. We granted Biogen exclusive rights to the use of our antisense technology to develop therapies for neurological diseases as part of this broad collaboration. We received a $100 million upfront payment and we are responsible for discovery and early development through the completion of a Phase 2 clinical trial for each antisense drug identified during the six year term of this collaboration, while Biogen is responsible for the creation and development of small molecule treatments and biologics.

All four of these collaboration agreements give Biogen the option to license one or more drugs resulting from the specific collaboration. If Biogen exercises an option, it will pay us a license fee and will assume future development, regulatory and commercialization responsibilities for the licensed drug. We are also eligible to receive milestone payments associated with the research and/or development of the drugs prior to licensing, milestone payments if Biogen achieves pre-specified regulatory milestones, and royalties on any product sales of drugs resulting from these collaborations.

We evaluated all four of the Biogen agreements to determine whether we should account for them as separate agreements. We determined that we should account for the agreements separately because we conducted the negotiations independently of one another, each agreement focuses on different drugs, there are no interrelated or interdependent deliverables, there are no provisions in any of these agreements that are essential to the other agreement, and the payment terms and fees under each agreement are independent of each other. We also evaluated the deliverables in each of these agreements to determine whether they met the criteria to be accounted for as separate units of accounting or whether they should be combined with other deliverables and accounted for as a single unit of accounting. For all four of these agreements, we determined that the options did not have stand-alone value because Biogen cannot pursue the development or commercialization of the drugs resulting from these collaborations until it exercises the respective option or options. As such, for each agreement we considered the deliverables to be a single unit of accounting and we are recognizing the upfront payment for each of the agreements over the respective estimated period of our performance.

Our collaborations often include contractual milestones, which typically relate to the achievement of pre-specified development, regulatory and commercialization events. These three categories of milestone events reflect the three stages of the life-cycle of our drugs, which we describe in more detail in the following paragraph.

Prior to the first stage in the life-cycle of our drugs, we perform a significant amount of work using our proprietary antisense technology to design chemical compounds that interact with specific genes that are good targets for drug discovery. From these research efforts, we hope to identify a development candidate. The designation of a development candidate is the first stage in the life-cycle of our drugs. A development candidate is a chemical compound that has demonstrated the necessary safety and efficacy in preclinical animal studies to warrant further study in humans.

During the first step of the development stage, we or our partners study our drugs in IND-enabling studies, which are animal studies intended to support an Investigational New Drug, or IND, application and/or the foreign equivalent. An approved IND allows us or our partners to study our development candidate in humans. If the regulatory agency approves the IND, we or our partners initiate Phase 1 clinical trials in which we typically enroll a small number of healthy volunteers to ensure the development candidate is safe for use in patients. If we or our partners determine that a development candidate is safe based on the Phase 1 data, we or our partners initiate Phase 2 studies that are generally larger scale studies in patients with the primary intent of determining the efficacy of the development candidate.

The final step in the development stage is Phase 3 studies to gather the necessary safety and efficacy data to request marketing approval from the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and/or foreign equivalents. The Phase 3 studies typically involve large numbers of patients and can take up to several years to complete. If the data gathered during the trials demonstrates acceptable safety and efficacy results, we or our partner will submit an application to the FDA and/or its foreign equivalents for marketing approval. This stage of the drug’s life-cycle is the regulatory stage.

If a drug achieves marketing approval, it moves into the commercialization stage, during which our partner will market and sell the drug to patients. Although our partner will ultimately be responsible for marketing and selling the partnered drug, our efforts to discover and develop a drug that is safe, effective and reliable contributes significantly to our partner’s ability to successfully sell the drug. The FDA and its foreign equivalents have the authority to impose significant restrictions on an approved drug through the product label and on advertising, promotional and distribution activities. Therefore, our efforts designing and executing the necessary animal and human studies are critical to obtaining claims in the product label from the regulatory agencies that would allow us or our partner to successfully commercialize our drug. Further, the patent protection afforded our drugs as a result of our initial patent applications and related prosecution activities in the United States and foreign jurisdictions are critical to our partner’s ability to sell our drugs without competition from generic drugs. The potential sales volume of an approved drug is dependent on several factors including the size of the patient population, market penetration of the drug, and the price charged for the drug.

Generally, the milestone events contained in our partnership agreements coincide with the progression of our drugs from development, to regulatory approval and then to commercialization. The process of successfully discovering a new development candidate, having it approved and ultimately sold for a profit is highly uncertain. As such, the milestone payments we may earn from our partners involve a significant degree of risk to achieve. Therefore, as a drug progresses through the stages of its life-cycle, the value of the drug generally increases.

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Development milestones in our partnerships may include the following types of events:



Designation of a development candidate. Following the designation of a development candidate, IND-enabling animal studies for a new development candidate generally take 12 to 18 months to complete;

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Initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial. Generally, Phase 1 clinical trials take one to two years to complete;

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Initiation or completion of a Phase 2 clinical trial. Generally, Phase 2 clinical trials take one to three years to complete;

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Initiation or completion of a Phase 3 clinical trial. Generally, Phase 3 clinical trials take two to four years to complete.

Regulatory milestones in our partnerships may include the following types of events:



Filing of regulatory applications for marketing approval such as a New Drug Application, or NDA, in the United States or a Marketing Authorization Application, or MAA, in Europe. Generally, it takes six to twelve months to prepare and submit regulatory filings.



Marketing approval in a major market, such as the United States, Europe or Japan. Generally it takes one to two years after an application is submitted to obtain approval from the applicable regulatory agency.

Commercialization milestones in our partnerships may include the following types of events



First commercial sale in a particular market, such as in the United States or Europe.

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Product sales in excess of a pre-specified threshold, such as annual sales exceeding $1 billion. The amount of time to achieve this type of milestone depends on several factors including but not limited to the dollar amount of the threshold, the pricing of the product and the pace at which customers begin using the product.

We assess whether a substantive milestone exists at the inception of our agreements. When a substantive milestone is achieved, we recognize revenue related to the milestone payment immediately. For our existing licensing and collaboration agreements in which we are involved in the discovery and/or development of the related drug or provide the partner with access to new technologies we discover, we have determined that the majority of future development, regulatory and commercialization milestones are substantive. For example, we consider most of the milestones associated with our strategic alliance with Biogen substantive because we are using our antisense drug discovery platform to discover and develop new drugs against targets for neurological diseases. Alternatively, we consider milestones associated with our strategic alliance with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. substantive because we provide Alnylam ongoing access to our technology to develop and commercialize RNA interference, or RNAi, therapeutics. In evaluating if a milestone is substantive we consider whether:



Substantive uncertainty exists as to the achievement of the milestone event at the inception of the arrangement;



The achievement of the milestone involves substantive effort and can only be achieved based in whole or in part on our performance or the occurrence of a specific outcome resulting from our performance;

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The amount of the milestone payment appears reasonable either in relation to the effort expended or to the enhancement of the value of the delivered items;



There is no future performance required to earn the milestone; and

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The consideration is reasonable relative to all deliverables and payment terms in the arrangement.

If any of these conditions are not met, we do not consider the milestone to be substantive and we defer recognition of the milestone payment and recognize it as revenue over our estimated period of performance, if any. Further information about our collaborative arrangements can be found in Note 6, Collaborative Arrangements and Licensing Agreements.

We often enter into agreements to license our proprietary patent rights on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis in exchange for license fees and/or royalties. We generally recognize as revenue immediately those licensing fees and royalties for which we have no significant future performance obligations and are reasonably assured of collecting the resulting receivable. For example, in the first quarter of 2014, we recognized $7.7 million in revenue from Alnylam related to its license of our technology to one of its partners because we had no performance obligations and collectability was reasonably assured.

Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments

We consider all liquid investments with maturities of three months or less when we purchase them to be cash equivalents. Our short-term investments have initial maturities of greater than three months from date of purchase. We classify our short-term investments as “available-for-sale” and carry them at fair market value based upon prices for identical or similar items on the last day of the fiscal period. We record unrealized gains and losses as a separate component of comprehensive income (loss) and include net realized gains and losses in gain (loss) on investments. We use the specific identification method to determine the cost of securities sold.

We have equity investments in privately- and publicly-held biotechnology companies that we have received as part of a technology license or collaboration agreement. At March 31, 2015 we held ownership interests of less than 20 percent in each of the respective companies.

We account for our equity investments in publicly-held companies at fair value and record unrealized gains and losses related to temporary increases and decreases in the stock of these publicly-held companies as a separate component of comprehensive income (loss). We account for equity investments in privately-held companies under the cost method of accounting because we own less than 20 percent and do not have significant influence over their operations. We hold one cost method investment in Atlantic Pharmaceuticals Limited. Realization of our equity position in this company is uncertain. When realization of our investment is uncertain, we record a full valuation allowance. In determining if and when a decrease in market value below our cost in our equity positions is temporary or other-than-temporary, we examine historical trends in the stock price, the financial condition of the company, near term prospects of the company and our current need for cash. If we determine that a decline in value in either a public or private investment is other-than-temporary, we recognize an impairment loss in the period in which the other-than-temporary decline occurs.

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Inventory valuation

We capitalize the costs of raw materials that we purchase for use in producing our drugs because until we use these raw materials they have alternative future uses. We include in inventory raw material costs for drugs that we manufacture for our partners under contractual terms and that we use primarily in our clinical development activities and drug products. We can use each of our raw materials in multiple products and, as a result, each raw material has future economic value independent of the development status of any single drug. For example, if one of our drugs failed, we could use the raw materials for that drug to manufacture our other drugs. We expense these costs when we deliver the drugs to our partners, or as we provide these drugs for our own clinical trials. We reflect our inventory on the balance sheet at the lower of cost or market value under the first-in, first-out method. We review inventory periodically and reduce the carrying value of items we consider to be slow moving or obsolete to their estimated net realizable value. We consider several factors in estimating the net realizable value, including shelf life of raw materials, alternative uses for our drugs and clinical trial materials, and historical write-offs. We did not record any inventory write-offs for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014. Total inventory, which consisted of raw materials, was $6.8 million and $6.3 million as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively.

  

 

Research, development and patent expenses

Our research and development expenses include wages, benefits, facilities, supplies, external services, clinical trial and manufacturing costs and other expenses that are directly related to our research and development operations. We expense research and development costs as we incur them. When we make payments for research and development services prior to the services being rendered, we record those amounts as prepaid assets on our condensed consolidated balance sheet and we expense them as the services are provided.

We capitalize costs consisting principally of outside legal costs and filing fees related to obtaining patents. We amortize patent costs over the useful life of the patent, beginning with the date the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or foreign equivalent, issues the patent. We review our capitalized patent costs regularly to ensure that they include costs for patents and patent applications that have future value. We evaluate patents and patent applications that we are not actively pursuing and write off any associated costs.

Long-lived assets

We evaluate long-lived assets, which include property, plant and equipment, patent costs, and exclusive licenses acquired from third parties, for impairment on at least a quarterly basis and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that we may not be able to recover the carrying amount of such assets.

Use of estimates

The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Basic and diluted net loss per share

We compute basic net loss per share by dividing the net loss by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period. As we incurred a net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, we did not include dilutive common equivalent shares in the computation of diluted net loss per share because the effect would have been anti-dilutive. Common stock from the following would have had an anti-dilutive effect on net loss per share:



1 percent convertible senior notes;

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2¾ percent convertible senior notes;

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Dilutive stock options;

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Unvested restricted stock units; and

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Employee Stock Purchase Plan, or ESPP.

Consolidation of variable interest entities

We identify entities as variable interest entities either: (1) that do not have sufficient equity investment at risk to permit the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support, or (2) in which the equity investors lack an essential characteristic of a controlling financial interest. We perform ongoing qualitative assessments of our variable interest entities to determine whether we have a controlling financial interest in the variable interest entity and therefore are the primary beneficiary. As of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, we had collaborative arrangements with two entities, Regulus and Antisense Therapeutics Limited, that we considered to be variable interest entities. We are not the primary beneficiary for any of these entities as we do not have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of our variable interest entities, the obligation to absorb losses, or the right to receive benefits from our variable interest entities that could potentially be significant to the variable interest entities. As of March 31, 2015, the total carrying value of our investments in variable interest entities was $93.4 million, and was related to our investment in Regulus. Our maximum exposure to loss related to our variable interest entities is limited to the carrying value of our investments.

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Accumulated other comprehensive income

Accumulated other comprehensive income is comprised of unrealized gains and losses on investments, net of taxes, and adjustments we made to reclassify realized gains and losses on investments from other accumulated comprehensive income to our condensed consolidated statement of operations. The following table summarizes changes in accumulated other comprehensive income for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 (in thousands):

(1)

Other comprehensive income from the three months ended March 31, 2015 includes income tax expense of $5.1 million, compared to $5.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

(2)

Included in gain on investments, net on our condensed consolidated statement of operations.

Convertible debt

We account for convertible debt instruments, including our 1 percent and 2¾ percent convertible notes, that may be settled in cash upon conversion (including partial cash settlement) by separating the liability and equity components of the instruments in a manner that reflects our nonconvertible debt borrowing rate. We determine the carrying amount of the liability component by measuring the fair value of similar debt instruments that do not have the conversion feature. If no similar debt instrument exists, we estimate fair value by using assumptions that market participants would use in pricing a debt instrument, including market interest rates, credit standing, yield curves and volatilities. Determining the fair value of the debt component requires the use of accounting estimates and assumptions. These estimates and assumptions are judgmental in nature and could have a significant impact on the determination of the debt component, and the associated non-cash interest expense.

We assign a value to the debt component of our convertible notes equal to the estimated fair value of similar debt instruments without the conversion feature, which resulted in us recording our debt at a discount. We are amortizing the debt discount over the life of the convertible notes as additional non-cash interest expense utilizing the effective interest method.

Segment information

In 2015, we began operating as two segments, our Isis Core segment, previously referred to as Drug Discovery and Development, and our new segment, Akcea Therapeutics, which includes the operations of our newly-formed and wholly-owned subsidiary, Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. We formed Akcea to develop and commercialize the drugs from our lipid franchise. We provide segment financial information and results for our Isis Core segment and our Akcea Therapeutics segment based on the segregation of revenues and expenses that our chief decision maker reviews to assess operating performance and to make operating decisions. We use judgments and estimates in determining the allocation of shared expenses to the two segments. Different assumptions or allocation methods could result in materially different results by segment.

Stock-based compensation expense

We measure stock-based compensation expense for equity-classified awards, principally related to stock options, restricted stock units, or RSUs, and stock purchase rights under our ESPP, based on the estimated fair value of the award on the date of grant. We recognize the value of the portion of the award that we ultimately expect to vest as stock-based compensation expense over the requisite service period in our condensed consolidated statements of operations. We reduce stock-based compensation expense for estimated forfeitures at the time of grant and revise in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from those estimates.

We use the Black-Scholes model to estimate the fair value of stock options granted and stock purchase rights under our ESPP. The expected term of stock options granted represents the period of time that we expect them to be outstanding. We estimate the expected term of options granted based on historical exercise patterns. For the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, we used the following weighted-average assumptions in our Black-Scholes calculations:

Employee Stock Options:

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ESPP:

Board of Director Stock Options:

The fair value of RSUs is based on the market price of our common stock on the date of grant. RSUs vest annually over a four year period. The weighted-average grant date fair value of RSUs granted to employees for the three months ended March 31, 2015 was $68.84 per share.

We did not grant any stock options or RSUs to the Board of Directors for the three months ended March 31, 2015.

The following table summarizes stock-based compensation expense for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 (in thousands), which was allocated as follows:

Non-cash stock-based compensation expense was $13.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015, and increased compared to $7.1 million for the same period in 2014 primarily due to the increase in our stock price. As of March 31, 2015, total unrecognized estimated non-cash stock-based compensation expense related to non-vested stock options and RSUs was $60.2 million and $25.0 million, respectively. We will adjust total unrecognized compensation cost for future changes in estimated forfeitures. We expect to recognize the cost of non-cash, stock-based compensation expense related to non-vested stock options and RSUs over a weighted average amortization period of 1.5 years and 1.8 years, respectively.

Impact of recently issued accounting standards

In May 2014, the FASB issued accounting guidance on the recognition of revenue from customers. Under this guidance, an entity will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects what the entity expects in exchange for the goods or services. This guidance also requires more detailed disclosures to enable users of the financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. The guidance as currently issued is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within that year, beginning after December 15, 2016 and will be effective for us in our fiscal year beginning January 1, 2017. On April 1, 2015, the FASB voted to propose deferring the effective date by one year. The FASB would still permit entities to choose to adopt on the original effective date. The proposal is subject to the FASB’s due process requirement, which includes a period for public comment. The guidance allows us to select one of two methods of adoption, either the full retrospective approach, meaning the guidance would be applied to all periods presented, or modified retrospective, meaning the cumulative effect of applying the guidance would be recognized as an adjustment to our opening retained earnings balance. We are currently in the process of determining the adoption method and timing as well as the effects the adoption will have on our consolidated financial statements and disclosures.

In August 2014, the FASB issued accounting guidance on how and when to disclose going-concern uncertainties in the financial statements. This guidance will require us to perform interim and annual assessments to determine our ability to continue as a going concern within one year from the date that we issue our financial statements. The guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within that year, beginning after December 15, 2016. We will adopt this guidance in our fiscal year beginning January 1, 2017. We do not expect this guidance to have any effect on our financial statements.

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In February 2015, the FASB issued accounting guidance which amends existing consolidation guidance for entities that are required to evaluate whether they should consolidate certain legal entities. The guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within that year, beginning after December 15, 2015. We will adopt this guidance in our fiscal year beginning January 1, 2016. We do not expect this guidance to have any effect on our financial statements.

In April 2015, the FASB issued accounting guidance to simplify the presentation of debt issuance costs. The amended guidance requires us to present debt issuance costs as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of the related debt liability rather than as an asset. The guidance does not require us to change how we recognize and measure our debt issuance costs. The guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within that year, beginning after December 15, 2015. We will adopt this guidance in our fiscal year beginning January 1, 2016. We do not expect this guidance to have a material impact on our financial statements.

In April 2015, the FASB issued accounting guidance to clarify the accounting for fees paid in cloud computing arrangements. The amendment provides guidance to customers about whether a cloud computing arrangement includes a software license element consistent with the acquisition of other software licenses or if the arrangement excludes a software license and should be accounted for as a service contract. The guidance does not change the accounting for service contracts. The guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within that year, beginning after December 15, 2015. We can choose to adopt it either prospectively or retrospectively. We will adopt this guidance in our fiscal year beginning January 1, 2016. We are currently evaluating the impact, if any, of the adoption of this newly issued guidance to our condensed consolidated financial statements.

3.

Investments

As of March 31, 2015, we have primarily invested our excess cash in debt instruments of the U.S. Treasury, financial institutions, corporations, and U.S. government agencies with strong credit ratings and an investment grade rating at or above A-1, P-1 or F-1 by Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, or S&P, or Fitch, respectively. We have established guidelines relative to diversification and maturities that maintain safety and liquidity. We periodically review and modify these guidelines to maximize trends in yields and interest rates without compromising safety and liquidity.

The following table summarizes the contract maturity of the available-for-sale securities we held as of March 31, 2015:

As illustrated above, at March 31, 2015, 87 percent of our available-for-sale securities had a maturity of less than two years.

All of our available-for-sale securities are available to us for use in our current operations. As a result, we categorize all of these securities as current assets even though the stated maturity of some individual securities may be one year or more beyond the balance sheet date.

At March 31, 2015, we had an ownership interest of less than 20 percent in one private company and two public companies with which we conduct business. The privately-held company is Atlantic Pharmaceuticals Limited and the publicly-traded companies are Antisense Therapeutics Limited and Regulus. We account for equity investments in the privately-held company under the cost method of accounting and we account for equity investments in the publicly-traded companies at fair value. We record unrealized gains and losses as a separate component of comprehensive income (loss) and include net realized gains and losses in gain (loss) on investments.

The following is a summary of our investments (in thousands):

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(1)

Includes investments classified as cash equivalents on our condensed consolidated balance sheet.

Investments we considered to be temporarily impaired at March 31, 2015 were as follows (in thousands):

We believe that the decline in value of these securities is temporary and primarily related to the change in market interest rates since purchase. We believe it is more likely than not that we will be able to hold these securities to maturity. Therefore we anticipate full recovery of their amortized cost basis at maturity.

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4.

Fair Value Measurements

We use a three-tier fair value hierarchy to prioritize the inputs used in our fair value measurements. These tiers include: Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices in active markets for identical assets, which includes our money market funds and treasury securities classified as available-for-sale securities and our investment in equity securities in publicly-held biotechnology companies; Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable, which includes our fixed income securities and commercial paper classified as available-for-sale securities; and Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring us to develop our own assumptions. Our Level 3 investments include our investments in the equity securities of publicly-held biotechnology companies for which we calculated a lack of marketability discount because there were restrictions on when we could trade the securities. We determine the lack of marketability discount by using a Black-Scholes model to value a hypothetical put option to approximate the cost of hedging the stock until the restriction ends. The majority of our securities have been classified as Level 2. We obtain the fair value of our Level 2 investments from our custodian bank or from a professional pricing service. We validate the fair value of our Level 2 investments by understanding the pricing model used by the custodian banks or professional pricing service provider and comparing that fair value to the fair value based on observable market prices. During the three months ended March 31, 2015, there were no transfers between our Level 1 and Level 2 investments. We recognize transfers between levels of the fair value hierarchy on the date of the event or change in circumstances that caused the transfer.

We measure the following major security types at fair value on a recurring basis. The following summary breaks down the fair-value hierarchy that we used to value each security at March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 (in thousands):

(1)

Included in cash and cash equivalents on our condensed consolidated balance sheet.

(2)

Included in short-term investments on our condensed consolidated balance sheet.

(3)

$9.0 million included in cash and cash equivalents on our condensed consolidated balance sheet, with the difference included in short-term investments on our condensed consolidated balance sheet.

(4)

$0.8 million included in cash and cash equivalents on our condensed consolidated balance sheet, with the difference included in short-term investments on our condensed consolidated balance sheet.

(5)

$10 million included in cash and cash equivalents on our condensed consolidated balance sheet, with the difference included in short-term investments on our condensed consolidated balance sheet.

(6)

$9.3 million included in cash and cash equivalents on our condensed consolidated balance sheet, with the difference included in short-term investments on our condensed consolidated balance sheet.

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In November 2014, Regulus completed a public offering. As part of the offering, we sold shares of Regulus' common stock and became subject to trading restrictions on our remaining shares through January 2015. Therefore, at December 31, 2014, our investment in Regulus included a lack of marketability discount and was classified as a Level 3 investment. At the end of January 2015, we reclassified our investment in Regulus to a Level 1 investment because the contractual trading restrictions on the shares we own ended.

The following is a summary of our investments measured at fair value on a recurring basis using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) for the three months ended March 31, 2015 (in thousands):

Other Fair Value Disclosures

Our 1 percent and 2¾ percent convertible notes had a fair value of $233.7 million and $584.7 million, respectively at March 31, 2015. We determine the fair value of our convertible notes based on quoted market prices for these notes, which are Level 2 measurements.

5.

Income Taxes

Intraperiod tax allocation rules require us to allocate our provision for income taxes between continuing operations and other categories of earnings, such as other comprehensive income. In periods in which we have a year-to-date pre-tax loss from continuing operations and pre-tax income in other categories of earnings, such as other comprehensive income, we must allocate the tax provision to the other categories of earnings. We then record a related tax benefit in continuing operations. During the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, we recorded unrealized gains on our investments in available-for-sale securities in other comprehensive income, net of taxes. As a result, for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, we recorded a $0.8 million and $2.3 million tax benefit, respectively, on our condensed consolidated statements of operations and a $5.1 million and $5.4 million tax expense, respectively, in other comprehensive income.

6.

Collaborative Arrangements and Licensing Agreements

Traditional Pharmaceutical Alliances and Licensing

Bayer HealthCare

In May 2015, we entered into an exclusive license agreement with Bayer HealthCare to develop and commercialize ISIS-FXI_Rx for the prevention of thrombosis. We are responsible for completing ongoing development activities. Bayer HealthCare is responsible for all other development and commercialization activities for ISIS-FXI_Rx. This transaction is subject to clearances under the Hart-Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.

Under the terms of the agreement, we are eligible to receive $155 million in near-term payments, including an immediate $100 million payment and a $55 million milestone payment upon advancement of the program following a Phase 2 study in patients with compromised kidney function. Over the term of the agreement, we are eligible to receive up to $375 million in license fees, milestone payments and other payments, including up to $120 million for the achievement of development milestones and up to $110 million for the achievement of commercialization milestones. In addition, we are eligible to receive tiered royalties in the low to high 20 percent range on gross margins of ISIS-FXI_Rx. We will earn the next milestone payment of $55 million upon the advancement of the program following a Phase 2 study of ISIS-FXI_Rx in patients with compromised kidney function.  

Our agreement with Bayer HealthCare will continue until the expiration of all payment obligations under the agreement. In addition, the agreement, or any program under the agreement, may terminate early under the following situations:



Bayer HealthCare may terminate the agreement or any program at any time by providing written notice to us;



Either we or Bayer HealthCare may terminate the agreement or any program by providing written notice to the other party upon the other party’s uncured failure to perform a material obligation under the agreement, or the entire agreement if the other party becomes insolvent; and



If Hart-Scott Rodino clearance is not received by December 31, 2015.

Biogen

We have established four strategic collaborations with Biogen that broaden and expand our severe and rare disease franchise for neurological disorders.

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ISIS-SMN_Rx

In January 2012, we entered into a collaboration agreement with Biogen to develop and commercialize ISIS-SMN_Rx for the treatment of SMA. We are currently conducting a Phase 3 study evaluating ISIS-SMN_Rx in infants with SMA and a Phase 3 study evaluating ISIS-SMN_Rx in children with SMA. In addition, we are evaluating ISIS-SMN_Rx in two Phase 2 open-label, multiple-dose, dose-escalation studies, one in children with SMA and one in infants with SMA. Patients from both of the Phase 2 studies continue to have access to ISIS-SMN_Rx through open-label extension dosing. We are responsible for completing the Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials we are currently conducting. If Biogen exercises its option, it will pay us a license fee and will assume all other global development, regulatory and commercialization responsibilities. Biogen has the option to license ISIS-SMN_Rx. Biogen may exercise this option upon completion of and data review of the first successful Phase 2/3 trial or completion of both Phase 2/3 trials. An amendment in December 2014 provided for additional opt-in scenarios, based on the filing or the acceptance of a new drug application or marketing authorization application with the FDA or EMA.

We received an upfront payment of $29 million, which we are amortizing through February 2017. We are also eligible to receive a license fee, milestone payments and royalties up to the mid-teens on any product sales of ISIS-SMN_Rx. In 2014, we and Biogen amended our original agreement to reflect changes made to the clinical development plan for ISIS-SMN_Rx. As a result, we and Biogen agreed to increase the payments that we are eligible to receive under this collaboration by approximately $57 million. Under the terms of the amended agreement, we are eligible to receive up to $327 million in a license fee and payments, including $102 million in substantive milestone and other payments associated with the clinical development of ISIS-SMN_Rx prior to licensing and $150 million in substantive milestone payments if Biogen achieves pre-specified regulatory milestones. In the first quarter of 2015, we earned a $9 million milestone payment for advancing the Phase 3 study of ISIS-SMN_Rx in infants with SMA and we earned a $7 million milestone payment for advancing the open-label extension study of ISIS-SMN_Rx in children with SMA. From inception through March 2015, we have received nearly $110 million in payments for advancing ISIS-SMN_Rx. We will earn the next milestone payment of $8.5 million if we further advance the Phase 3 study in infants with SMA.

ISIS-DMPK-2.5_Rx

In June 2012, we and Biogen entered into a second and separate collaboration agreement to develop and commercialize a novel antisense drug, ISIS-DMPK-2.5_Rx, targeting DMPK for the treatment of myotonic dystrophy type 1, or DM1. We are responsible for global development of the drug through the completion of the first Phase 2 clinical trial. Biogen has the option to license the drug through the completion of the first Phase 2 trial. If Biogen exercises its option, it will assume all other global development, regulatory and commercialization responsibilities. Under the terms of the agreement, we received an upfront payment of $12 million, which we are amortizing through June 2017. Over the term of the collaboration, we are eligible to receive up to $259 million in a license fee and substantive milestone payments, including up to $59 million in development milestone payments and $130 million in milestone payments if Biogen achieves pre-specified regulatory milestones. In addition, we are eligible to receive royalties up to the mid-teens on any product sales of the drug. From inception through March 2015, we have received $36 million in payments for advancing ISIS-DMPK-2.5_Rx. We will earn the next milestone payment of $35 million if we initiate a Phase 2 study for ISIS-DMPK-2.5_Rx.

Neurology

In December 2012, we and Biogen entered into a third and separate collaboration agreement to develop and commercialize novel antisense drugs to three targets to treat neurological or neuromuscular diseases. We are responsible for the development of each of the drugs through the completion of the initial Phase 2 clinical study for such drug. Biogen has the option to license a drug from each of the three programs through the completion of the first Phase 2 study for each program. If Biogen exercises its option for a drug, it will assume all further global development, regulatory and commercialization responsibilities for that drug. Under the terms of the agreement, we received an upfront payment of $30 million, which we are amortizing through December 2020. Over the term of the collaboration, we are eligible to receive up to $259 million in a license fee and substantive milestone payments per program. We are eligible to receive up to $59 million in development milestone payments to support research and development of each program, including amounts related to the cost of clinical trials. We are also eligible to receive up to $130 million in milestone payments per program if Biogen achieves pre-specified regulatory milestones. In addition, we are eligible to receive royalties up to the mid-teens on any product sales of drugs resulting from each of the three programs. In February 2015, we earned a $10 million milestone payment when we initiated an IND-enabling toxicology study of ISIS-BIIB4_Rx, a drug for an undisclosed target designed to treat a neurodegenerative disease. From inception through March 31, 2015, we have received $40 million in payments under this collaboration. We will earn the next milestone payment of up to $14 million if we initiate a Phase 1 study for ISIS-BIIB4_Rx.

Strategic Neurology

In September 2013, we and Biogen entered into a fourth and separate collaboration agreement, which is a long-term strategic relationship focused on applying antisense technology to advance the treatment of neurological diseases. As part of the collaboration, Biogen gained exclusive rights to the use of our antisense technology to develop therapies for neurological diseases and has the option to license drugs resulting from this collaboration. The exclusivity for neurological diseases will last through September 2019, and may be extended for any drug development programs being pursued under the collaboration. We will usually be responsible for drug discovery and early development of antisense drugs and Biogen will have the option to license antisense drugs after Phase 2 proof of concept. If Biogen exercises its option for a drug, it will assume all further global development, regulatory and commercialization responsibilities for that drug. Biogen will be responsible for all of the drug discovery and development activities for drugs using other modalities.

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Under the terms of the agreement, we received an upfront payment of $100 million and are eligible to receive milestone payments, license fees and royalty payments for all drugs developed through this collaboration, with the specific amounts dependent upon the modality of the molecule advanced by Biogen. If we have a change of control during the first six years of the collaboration, we may be required to refund Biogen a portion of the $100 million upfront payment, with the amount of the potential refund decreasing ratably as we progress through the initial six year term of the collaboration. We are amortizing the $100 million upfront payment through September 2019. Because the amortization period for the upfront payment will never be less than the initial six year term of the collaboration, the amount of revenue we recognize from the upfront payment will never exceed the amount that Biogen could potentially require us to refund.

For each antisense molecule that is chosen for drug discovery and development under this collaboration, we are eligible to receive up to approximately $260 million in a license fee and substantive milestone payments. We are eligible to receive up to approximately $60 million for the achievement of research and development milestones, including amounts related to the cost of clinical trials, and up to $130 million for the achievement of regulatory milestones. In addition, we are eligible to receive royalties up to the mid-teens on any product sales of antisense drugs developed under this collaboration. If other modalities are chosen, such as small molecules or monoclonal antibodies, we are eligible to receive up to $90 million in substantive milestone payments, including up to $35 million for the achievement of research and development milestones and up to $55 million for the achievement of regulatory milestones. In addition, we are eligible to receive single-digit royalties on any product sales of drugs using non-antisense modalities developed under this collaboration. From inception through March 2015, we have received $125 million in payments under this collaboration. In April 2015, we earned a $10 million milestone payment for validating a fourth target under this collaboration. We will earn the next milestone payment of up to $10 million if we choose another target to advance under this collaboration.

Each of our agreements with Biogen will continue until the earlier of the date all of Biogen's options to obtain the exclusive licenses under the applicable agreement expire unexercised or, if Biogen exercises its option, until the expiration of all payment obligations under the applicable agreement. In addition, each agreement, or any program under an agreement, may terminate early under the following situations:



Biogen may terminate the agreement or any program at any time by providing written notice to us;



Under specific circumstances, if we are acquired by a third party with a product that directly competes with a compound being developed under the agreement, Biogen may terminate the affected program by providing written notice to us;



If, within a specified period of time, any required clearance of a transaction contemplated by an agreement under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, is not received, then either we or Biogen may terminate the affected program by providing written notice to the other party; and



Either we or Biogen may terminate any program by providing written notice to the other party upon the other party's uncured failure to perform a material obligation under the agreement with respect to the affected program, or the entire agreement if the other party becomes insolvent.

During the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, we earned revenue of $39.2 million and $10.2 million, respectively, from our relationship with Biogen, which represented 63 and 36 percent, respectively of our total revenue for those periods. Our condensed consolidated balance sheet at March 31, 2015 included deferred revenue of $110.8 million related to our relationship with Biogen.

GSK

In March 2010, we entered into a strategic alliance with GSK using our antisense drug discovery platform to seek out and develop new drugs against targets for rare and serious diseases, including infectious diseases and some conditions causing blindness. Our strategic alliance currently includes five drugs in development. GSK has the exclusive option to license drugs resulting from this alliance at Phase 2 proof-of-concept for a license fee. If GSK exercises its exclusive option for any drugs resulting from this alliance, it will be responsible for all further global development, regulatory and commercialization activities for such drug. Under the terms of the agreement, we received a $35 million upfront payment and in May 2011 we received a $3 million payment when we and GSK expanded the collaboration.

In October 2012, we and GSK amended the original agreement to reflect an accelerated clinical development plan for ISIS-TTR_Rx. From inception through March 2015, we have earned $60 million, primarily in milestone payments, from GSK related to the development of ISIS-TTR_Rx. We are also eligible to earn an additional $10 million pre-licensing milestone payment associated with the ISIS-TTR_Rx Phase 2/3 study. In addition, under the amended agreement, we and GSK increased the regulatory and commercial milestone payments we can earn should ISIS-TTR_Rx receive marketing approval and meet pre-agreed sales targets.

 In addition to ISIS-TTR_Rx, we have four drugs in development. We are developing ISIS-HBV_Rx, an antisense drug designed to reduce the production of viral proteins associated with hepatitis B virus, or HBV infection. We are also developing ISIS-GSK4-L_Rx and ISIS-RHO-2.5_Rx, which are antisense drugs we designed to treat ocular diseases. In addition, we recently advanced a drug to treat an undisclosed target, ISIS-GSK6-L_Rx, into development.

Under our agreement, if GSK successfully develops all five drugs for one or more indications and achieves pre-agreed sales targets, we could receive license fees and substantive milestone payments of more than $1.3 billion, including up to $220.5 million for the achievement of development milestones, up to $483.5 million for the achievement of regulatory milestones and up to $428 million for the achievement of commercialization milestones. Through March 2015, we have received $129.5 million in payments under this strategic alliance with GSK. We will earn the next milestone payment of $5 million if we further advance ISIS-GSK4_Rx. In addition, we are eligible to receive royalties up to the mid-teens on sales from any product that GSK successfully commercializes under this alliance.

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Our alliance with GSK will continue until the earlier of the date that all of GSK's options to obtain the exclusive licenses under the agreement expire unexercised or, if GSK exercises its option, until the expiration of all payment obligations under the agreement. In addition, the agreement, or any program under the agreement, may terminate early under the following situations:



GSK may terminate any program, other than the ISIS-TTRRx program, at any time by providing written notice to us;



GSK may terminate the ISIS-TTRRx program by providing written notice to us after reviewing specific data from the Phase 3 study for the program; and



Either we or GSK may terminate any program by providing written notice to the other party upon the other party's uncured failure to perform a material obligation under the agreement with respect to the affected program, or the entire agreement if the other party becomes insolvent.

During the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, we earned revenue of $16.5 million and $3.3 million, respectively, from our relationship with GSK, which represented 26 and 12 percent, respectively of our total revenue for those periods. Our condensed consolidated balance sheet at March 31, 2015 included deferred revenue of $9.2 million related to our relationship with GSK.

7.

Segment Information and Concentration of Business Risk

In 2015, we began reporting our financial results in two reportable segments, Isis Core, previously referred to as Drug Discovery and Development and Akcea Therapeutics, our new wholly owned subsidiary. Segment loss from operations includes revenue less operating expenses attributable to each segment.

In our Isis Core segment we are exploiting a novel drug discovery platform we created to generate a broad pipeline of first-in-class or best-in-class drugs for us and our partners. Our Isis Core segment generates revenue from a multifaceted partnering strategy.

We established Akcea to develop and commercialize the drugs from our lipid franchise. Moving our lipid drugs into a company that we own and control ensures that our core focus at Isis remains on innovation while allowing us to maintain control over and retain more value from our lipid drugs. To date, Akcea has not earned any revenue.

The following is our segment information for the three months ended March 31, 2015 (in thousands).

We have historically funded our operations from collaborations with corporate partners and a relatively small number of partners have accounted for a significant percentage of our revenue. Revenue from significant partners, which is defined as ten percent or more of our total revenue, was as follows:

Contract receivables from two significant partners comprised approximately 92 percent of our contract receivables at March 31, 2015. Contract receivables from three significant partners comprised approximately 99 percent of our contract receivables at December 31, 2014.

ITEM 2

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

In this Report on Form 10-Q, unless the context requires otherwise, “Isis,” “Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us,” means Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Akcea Therapeutics, Inc.

Forward-Looking Statements

In addition to historical information contained in this Report on Form 10-Q, this Report includes forward-looking statements regarding our business, the therapeutic and commercial potential of our technologies and drugs, including KYNAMRO, ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, and other products in development, and the financial position of Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Any statement describing our goals, expectations, financial or other projections, intentions or beliefs, is a forward-looking statement and should be considered an at-risk statement. 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, and in the endeavor of building a business around such drugs. Our forward-looking statements also involve assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove correct, could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although our forward-looking statements reflect the good faith judgment of our management, these statements are based only on facts and factors currently known by us. As a result, you are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These and other risks concerning our programs are described in additional detail in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, which is on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and are available from us, and those identified within this Item in the section entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 30 of this Report.

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Overview

We are the leading company in RNA-targeted drug discovery and development, exploiting a proven novel drug discovery platform we created to generate a broad pipeline of first-in-class or best-in-class antisense drugs. The efficiency and broad applicability of our drug discovery platform allows us to discover and develop antisense drugs to treat a wide range of diseases with an emphasis on cardiovascular, metabolic, severe and rare diseases, including neurological disorders, and cancer. The efficiency of our drug discovery technology allows us to employ a unique business strategy designed to maximize the value of our drugs and technology while maintaining an effective cost structure that limits our cash needs. Our business strategy is supported by our platform technology, our robust pipeline of drugs and our diverse partnering strategies, which have enabled us to focus on doing what we do best – to discover and develop novel antisense drugs.

We have created a mature and broad pipeline of 38 drugs in development that represents the potential for significant commercial opportunities in many therapeutic areas. We have a number of drugs in later-stage development that we believe represent significant near-term commercial opportunities. ISIS-APOCIII_Rx is a drug we designed to treat patients with severely high triglyceride levels, including patients with a severe and rare genetic condition called familial chylomicronemia syndrome, or FCS and patients with partial lipodystrophy, another severe and rare genetic condition. We have completed a broad Phase 2 program in which patients treated with ISIS-APOCIII_Rx experienced significantly reduced triglyceride and apolipoprotein C-III, or apoC-III, levels when evaluated as a single agent and in combination with fibrates. We initiated a Phase 3 study of ISIS-APOCIII_Rx in patients with FCS in the third quarter of 2014 and we plan to initiate a Phase 3 study in patients with partial lipodystrophy in 2015. In addition to ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, we are also evaluating ISIS-TTR_Rx and ISIS-SMN_Rx in Phase 3 studies. We designed these drugs to treat patients with severe and rare diseases, such as transthyretin amyloidosis, or TTR amyloidosis, and spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA, who have very limited therapeutic options. The significant unmet medical need and the severity of these diseases could warrant a rapid path to market. We expect Phase 3 data in 2016/2017 for all three of these drugs, which may support regulatory filings for marketing approvals for these drugs. We believe all three of these drugs have the potential to reach the market in the next several years. We also have numerous drugs in our pipeline advancing in mid-stage clinical development that could represent significant near and mid-term licensing opportunities.

Our novel lipid-lowering product, KYNAMRO (mipomersen sodium) injection, is on the market in the United States for patients with HoFH. Patients with HoFH are at high cardiovascular risk and cannot reduce their LDL-C sufficiently with currently available lipid-lowering therapies. In January 2013, the FDA approved the marketing application for KYNAMRO for patients with HoFH. Genzyme, a Sanofi Company, has also obtained marketing approval in other countries, including Mexico, Argentina, South Korea and Peru, and is pursuing marketing approval in multiple additional markets. Genzyme is evaluating KYNAMRO in a late-stage clinical study, FOCUS FH, in patients with severe HeFH, and they plan to report data from this study in 2015.

The efficiency and broad utility of our drug discovery technology supports the continued growth of our pipeline of antisense drugs. To maximize the value of our drugs and technologies, we have a multifaceted partnering strategy. Our partnering strategy provides us the flexibility to license each of our drugs at what we believe is the optimal time to maximize the near- and long-term value of our drugs. In this way, we can expand our and our partners' pipelines with antisense drugs that we design to address significant medical needs while remaining small and focused.

One component of our partnering strategy is to form traditional partnering alliances that enable us to discover and conduct early development of new drugs, outlicense our drugs to partners and build a base of license fees, milestone payments and profit share or royalty income. An example of this is our recent exclusive license of ISIS-FXI_Rx to Bayer HealthCare to develop and commercialize ISIS-FXI_Rx for the prevention of thrombosis. As a leader in the antithrombotic market, Bayer has the expertise, resources and commitment to broadly develop ISIS-FXI_Rx. They plan to conduct a robust development plan that represents a commitment to make a substantial investment in ISIS-FXI_Rx. Bayer’s development plan combines short-term indications, which have the potential for early market entrance in patients with limited therapeutic options, with long-term indications in patients who are underserved by current anti-thrombotic treatments. Another example of our traditional partnering strategy was our license of KYNAMRO to Genzyme.

Earlier this year, we established a wholly owned subsidiary, Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., to develop and commercialize the drugs from our lipid franchise. Akcea will focus on the development and commercialization of ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-APO(a)_Rx and ISIS-ANGPTL3_Rx as well as more potent follow on drugs for these programs. To lead Akcea, we hired a senior business leader with commercialization expertise in severe and rare and cardiovascular diseases to maximize the value of our lipid franchise assets. Our Akcea CEO has already made several key strategic hires. Moving our lipid drugs into a company that we own and control ensures that our core focus at Isis remains on innovation while allowing us to maintain control over and retain more value from our lipid drugs.

We also work with a consortium of companies that can exploit our drugs and technology. We call these companies satellite companies. We benefit from the disease-specific expertise of our satellite company partners, who are advancing drugs in our pipeline in areas that are outside of our core focus. For example, Regulus is a satellite company partner that we co-founded to discover and develop antisense drugs targeting microRNAs. We sold a portion of our Regulus stock in 2014 for more than $20 million of cash, and we remain a significant shareholder in the company. We also maintain our broad RNA technology leadership through collaborations with satellite companies. All of these different types of relationships are part of our partnering strategy, which we designed to maximize the value of our assets, minimize the development risks of a broad pipeline of novel new drugs, and provide us with significant reliable near-term revenue.

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The broad applicability of our drug discovery technology and the clinical successes of the drugs in our pipeline continue to create new partnering opportunities. Since January 2012, we have initiated eight new partnerships that involve antisense drugs for the treatment of various disorders, including neurological diseases, autoimmune disorders of the GI tract, thrombosis and cancer. Most recently, we granted an exclusive license to our partner, Bayer HealthCare, to develop and commercialize ISIS-FXI_Rx for the prevention of thrombosis. We formed a broad alliance with Janssen to discover and develop antisense drugs to treat autoimmune disorders in the GI tract, four strategic alliances with Biogen to discover and develop antisense drugs to treat neurologic diseases, a strategic alliance with AstraZeneca to discover and develop antisense drugs to treat cancer and a strategic alliance with Roche to discover and develop antisense drugs to treat Huntington's disease. Additionally, we and our partner, GSK, are developing five drugs, including ISIS-TTR_Rx, which is in Phase 3 development. We have the potential to earn significant revenue from these partnerships and our other partnered programs. Since 2007 we have received more than $1.4 billion in cash from upfront and licensing fees, equity purchase payments, milestone payments and research and development funding from our partnerships. We have the potential to earn over $8.5 billion in future milestone payments and licensing fees from all of our partnerships. We also have the potential to share in the future commercial success of our inventions and drugs resulting from our partnerships through earn out, profit sharing, or royalty arrangements.

As an innovator in RNA-targeting drug discovery and development, we design and execute our patent strategy to provide us with extensive protection for our drugs and our technology. With our ongoing research and development, we continue to add to our substantial patent estate. Our patents not only protect our key assets—our technology and our drugs—they also form the basis for lucrative licensing and partnering arrangements. Through March 2015, we have generated more than $420 million from our intellectual property sale and licensing program that helps support our internal drug discovery and development programs.

Recent Events

Drug Development Highlights (2015 first quarter and subsequent activities)

	We and our partners reported positive data on six drugs in our pipeline, including:

o

We reported positive results from an ongoing open-label extension study of ISIS-TTRRx in patients with FAP. In the open-label study after thirteen weeks of treatment with ISIS-TTRRx, TTR protein was reduced up to 92 percent with a median reduction of 78 percent in patients with FAP compared to their baseline TTR levels at entry into the Phase 3 study.

o

AstraZeneca reported clinical and preclinical data on ISIS-STAT3-2.5Rx demonstrating evidence of antitumor activity in patients with cancer including advanced/metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma and diffuse large B cell lymphoma. Additionally, AstraZeneca reported that, in preclinical studies, co-treatment of ISIS-STAT3-2.5Rx and MEDI4736, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, showed significantly greater antitumor activity than when either drug was administered alone. AstraZeneca plans to initiate two clinical studies evaluating ISIS-STAT3-2.5Rx in combination with MEDI4736 this year.

o

We reported top-line Phase 2 data on ISIS-PTP1BRx demonstrating that patients with type 2 diabetes experienced statistically significant mean reductions in body weight and HbA1c (0.7 percentage point) at 36 weeks.

o

Regulus reported clinical data on RG-101 showing that patients with hepatitis C virus achieved sustained viral suppression after only a single dose of RG-101, and that some patients remained below the level of detection for hepatitis C virus 20 weeks after a single dose.

o

We reported Phase 1 results showing that ISIS-ANGPTL3Rx produced significant reductions of up to 93 percent in ANGPTL3, up to 63 percent in triglycerides and up to 46 percent in total cholesterol in healthy volunteers.

o

We reported Phase 1 results showing that ISIS-PKKRx produced significant, dose-dependent reductions of PKK of up to 95 percent in healthy volunteers.

	We licensed ISIS-FXIRx to Bayer HealthCare to develop and commercialize ISIS-FXIRx for the prevention of thrombosis.

o

We are eligible to receive up to $375 million in payments, including a $100 million upfront payment and a $55 million milestone payment upon advancement of the program following completion of the planned Phase 2 study.

o

We are eligible to receive tiered royalties in the low to high 20 percent range on gross margins of ISIS-FXIRx.

o

This transaction is subject to clearances under the Hart-Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.

	We formed an alliance with Janssen to discover and develop antisense drugs to treat autoimmune disorders of the GI tract.

o

We received $35 million in upfront payments and are eligible to receive nearly $800 million in development, regulatory and sales milestone payments and license fees for the programs under this alliance.

o

We will also receive tiered royalties in the near teens on sales of drugs successfully commercialized.

	We formed a wholly owned subsidiary, Akcea Therapeutics, to develop and commercialize our lipid drugs, ISIS-APOCIIIRx, ISIS-APO(a)Rx, ISIS-ANGPTL3Rx and the follow on drugs for these programs.

	We and Alnylam formed a new agreement that includes a cross-license of intellectual property, providing each company rights to certain of each other’s technology advances.

o

The new agreement also provides each company with exclusive RNA therapeutic license rights for two programs.

	We generated more than $195 million in payments from partners, including the following:

o

$100 million from Bayer

o

$42 million from Biogen

o

$35 million from Janssen

o

$17 million from GSK

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Critical Accounting Policies

We prepare our condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. As such, we make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions that we believe are reasonable, based upon the information available to us. These judgments involve making estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain and may significantly impact our quarterly or annual results of operations and financial condition. Each quarter, our senior management reviews the development, selection and disclosure of such estimates with our audit committee of our board of directors. In the following paragraphs, we describe the specific risks associated with these critical accounting policies and we caution that future events rarely develop exactly as one may expect, and that best estimates may require adjustment.

The significant accounting policies, which we believe are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results, require the following:



Assessing the propriety of revenue recognition and associated deferred revenue;



Determining the proper valuation of investments in marketable securities and other equity investments;



Assessing the recoverability of long-lived assets, including property and equipment, intellectual property and licensed technology;



Determining the appropriate cost estimates for unbilled preclinical studies and clinical development activities;



Estimating our net deferred income tax asset valuation allowance; and



Determining the fair value of convertible debt without the conversion feature

There have been no material changes to our critical accounting policies and estimates from the information provided in Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014.

Results of Operations

Revenue

Total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2015 was $62.6 million compared to $28.2 million for the same period in 2014. Our revenue fluctuates based on the nature and timing of payments under agreements with our partners and consists primarily of revenue from the amortization of upfront fees, milestone payments and license fees. For example, nearly 75% of our revenue in the first quarter of 2015 was from milestone payments we earned from the success of our partnered programs.

Research and Development Revenue Under Collaborative Agreements

Research and development revenue under collaborative agreements for the three months ended March 31, 2015 was $61.9 million compared to $19.6 million for the same period in 2014.

We earned $46 million in milestone payments for the three months ended March 31, 2015. The revenue from milestone payments in the first quarter of 2015 was comprised of:



$31 million from Biogen including the following:

o

$10 million for initiating investigational new drug supporting studies for ISIS-BIIB4Rx;

o

$9 million for advancing CHERISH, a Phase 3 study for ISIS-SMNRx in infants with SMA;

o

$7 million for advancing the open-label extension study for ISIS-SMNRx in children with SMA; and

o

$5 million for validating an undisclosed target to treat a neurological disorder.



$15 million from GSK related to advancing the Phase 2/3 study of ISIS-TTRRx.

In April 2015, we earned a $10 million milestone payment from Biogen for advancing a fourth target under our strategic neurology collaboration. In addition, we project that we will recognize between $85 million and $95 million of new revenue in 2015 from our recently completed license agreement with Bayer HealthCare.

Licensing and Royalty Revenue

Our revenue from licensing activities and royalties for the three months ended March 31, 2015 was $0.7 million compared to $8.6 million for the same period in 2014. The decrease was primarily a result of the $7.7 million in sublicensing revenue we earned for the three months ended March 31, 2014 from Alnylam related to its license of our technology to one of its partners.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2015 were $71.9 million compared to $57.8 million for the same period in 2014 because we are conducting more later-stage clinical trials in 2015 than we did in 2014, including the continuation of our Phase 3 programs for ISIS-TTR_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx, and ISIS-APOCIII_Rx and an increase in stock compensation expense due to the increase in our stock price. As drugs move forward to more advanced stages of development, including into larger, longer clinical studies, the costs of development increase.

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Our operating expenses by segment were as follows (in thousands):

In order to analyze and compare our results of operations to other similar companies, we believe it is important to exclude non-cash compensation expense related to equity awards from our operating expenses. We believe non-cash compensation expense is not indicative of our operating results or cash flows from our operations. Further, we internally evaluate the performance of our operations excluding it. Non-cash compensation expense related to equity awards increased significantly in 2015 compared to 2014 primarily due to the increase in our stock price.

Research, Development and Patent Expenses

Our research, development and patent expenses consist of costs for antisense drug discovery, antisense drug development, manufacturing and operations and R&D support costs.

The following table sets forth information on research, development and patent expenses (in thousands):

Our research and development expenses by segment were as follows (in thousands):

For the three months ended March 31, 2015, our total research, development and patent expenses were $54.0 million compared to $47.6 million for the same period in 2014, and were higher primarily due to the progression of our three drugs we currently have in Phase 3 studies. All amounts exclude non-cash compensation expense related to equity awards.

We use our proprietary antisense technology to generate information about the function of genes and to determine the value of genes as drug discovery targets. We use this information to direct our own antisense drug discovery research, and that of our partners. Antisense drug discovery is also the function that is responsible for advancing our antisense core technology.

As we continue to advance our antisense technology, we are investing in our drug discovery programs to expand our and our partners' drug pipelines. We anticipate that our existing relationships and collaborations, as well as prospective new partners, will continue to help fund our research programs and contribute to the advancement of the science by funding core antisense technology research.

Our antisense drug discovery expenses were as follows (in thousands):

Antisense drug discovery costs for the three months ended March 31, 2015 were $10.7 million and were slightly higher compared to $9.1 million for the same period in 2014 because we were conducting more research activities in 2015 to support our partnerships. All amounts exclude non-cash compensation expense related to equity awards.

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The following table sets forth research and development expenses for our major antisense drug development projects (in thousands):

Antisense drug development expenses were $30.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015, compared to $26.4 million for the same period in 2014. Expenses in the first quarter of 2015 were higher compared to the same period in 2014 primarily due to the progression of our three drugs currently in Phase 3 trials. As drugs move forward to more advanced stages of development, including into larger, longer clinical studies, the costs of development increase. All amounts exclude non-cash compensation expense related to equity awards. In our 2014 Form 10-K, we began presenting salaries and benefits in the development overhead costs line in our antisense drug development table. We have adjusted 2014 to conform to the current year presentation.

Our antisense drug development expenses by segment were as follows (in thousands):

We may conduct multiple clinical trials on a drug candidate, including multiple clinical trials for the various indications we may be studying. Furthermore, as we obtain results from trials we may elect to discontinue clinical trials for certain drug candidates in certain indications in order to focus our resources on more promising drug candidates or indications. Our Phase 1 and Phase 2 programs are clinical research programs that fuel our Phase 3 pipeline. When our products are in Phase 1 or Phase 2 clinical trials, they are in a dynamic state in which we may adjust the development strategy for each product. Although we may characterize a product as "in Phase 1" or "in Phase 2," it does not mean that we are conducting a single, well-defined study with dedicated resources. Instead, we allocate our internal resources on a shared basis across numerous products based on each product's particular needs at that time. This means we are constantly shifting resources among products. Therefore, what we spend on each product during a particular period is usually a function of what is required to keep the products progressing in clinical development, not what products we think are most important. For example, the number of people required to start a new study is large, the number of people required to keep a study going is modest and the number of people required to finish a study is large. However, such fluctuations are not indicative of a shift in our emphasis from one product to another and cannot be used to accurately predict future costs for each product. And, because we always have numerous drugs in preclinical and early stage clinical research, the fluctuations in expenses from drug to drug, in large part, offset one another. If we partner a drug, it may affect the size of a trial, its timing, its total cost and the timing of the related costs. As part of our collaboration with Genzyme, we have transitioned development responsibility for KYNAMRO to Genzyme. We and Genzyme share development costs equally until KYNAMRO is profitable.

Expenditures in our manufacturing and operations function consist primarily of personnel costs, specialized chemicals for oligonucleotide manufacturing, laboratory supplies and outside services. This function is responsible for providing drug supplies to antisense drug development, our Akcea subsidiary and our collaboration partners, including the analytical testing to satisfy good laboratory and good manufacturing practices requirements.

Our manufacturing and operations expenses were as follows (in thousands):

Manufacturing and operations expenses were $5.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015, and were relatively flat compared to $5.8 million for the same period in 2014. All amounts exclude non-cash compensation expense related to equity awards.

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Our manufacturing and operations expenses by segment were as follows (in thousands):

In our research, development and patent expenses, we include support costs such as rent, repair and maintenance for buildings and equipment, utilities, depreciation of laboratory equipment and facilities, amortization of our intellectual property, information technology costs, procurement costs and waste disposal costs. We call these costs R&D support costs.

The following table sets forth information on R&D support costs (in thousands):

Our R&D support costs by segment were as follows (in thousands):

R&D support costs for the three months ended March 31, 2015 were $6.9 million, compared to $6.3 million for the same period in 2014. All amounts exclude non-cash compensation expense related to equity awards.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses include corporate costs required to support our company, our employees and our stockholders. These costs include personnel and outside costs in the areas of legal, human resources, investor relations, and finance. Additionally, we include in general and administrative expenses such costs as rent, repair and maintenance of buildings and equipment, depreciation and utilities costs that we need to support the corporate functions listed above.

The following table sets forth information on general and administrative expenses (in thousands):

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Our general and administrative expenses by segment were as follows (in thousands):

General and administrative expenses were $4.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015, and increased compared to $3.2 million for the same period in 2014 primarily due to increased personnel costs and the addition of Akcea. All amounts exclude non-cash compensation expense related to equity awards.

Akcea Therapeutics, Inc.

The following table sets forth information on operating expenses (in thousands) for our Akcea Therapeutics segment for the three months ended March 31, 2015. Akcea had no operations in 2014.:

Expenses for Akcea Therapeutics were $6.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015, and were driven by development costs mainly related to Akcea’s Phase 3 program for ISIS-APOCIII_Rx and other projects including ISIS-APO(a)_Rx and ISIS-ANGPTL3_Rx. Additionally, starting in 2015, Akcea incurred general and administrative costs necessary to operate and we allocated to Akcea a portion of Isis' general and administrative and R&D support costs for work we performed on behalf of Akcea. All amounts exclude non-cash compensation expense related to equity awards.

Investment Income

Investment income for the three months ended March 31, 2015 was $0.8 million, compared to $0.7 million for the same period in 2014. The slight increase in investment income was primarily due to a higher average cash balance and market conditions during the first quarter of 2015.

Interest Expense

Interest expense includes non-cash amortization of the debt discount and debt issuance costs plus interest expense payable in cash for our 1 percent and 2¾ percent convertible notes, non-cash interest expense related to the long-term financing liability for our primary facility and other miscellaneous debt.

 

The following table sets forth information on interest expense (in thousands):

 

Interest expense for the three months ended March 31, 2015 was $9.0 million compared to $4.9 million in 2014. The increase in interest expense was primarily due to the increase in non-cash amortization of the debt discount and debt issuance costs for our 1 percent notes we issued in November 2014. Additionally, we had more debt outstanding and as a result our interest expense payable in cash increased. In November 2014, we completed a $500 million convertible debt offering. The notes mature in 2021 and bear interest at 1 percent. We used a substantial portion of the net proceeds from the issuance of the 1 percent notes to repurchase $140 million in principal of our 2¾ percent notes. The new principal balance of the 2¾ percent notes is $61.2 million. We record non-cash amortization of the debt discount on our convertible notes because we account for our convertible notes by separating the liability and equity components of the instruments in a manner that reflects our nonconvertible debt borrowing rate. As a result, we assigned a value to the debt component of our convertible notes equal to the estimated fair value of similar debt instruments without the conversion feature. This means we recorded our convertible notes at a discount that we are amortizing over the life of the notes as non-cash interest expense.

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Gain on Investments, net

We recorded a gain on investments of $0.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014, primarily due to the sale of a portion of our stock in iCo Therapeutics Inc. We did not sell any securities during the three months ended March 31, 2015.

Income Tax Benefit

We recorded a tax benefit of $0.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015, compared to $2.3 million for the same period in 2014. Accounting rules require us to allocate our provision for income taxes between continuing operations and other categories of earnings, such as other comprehensive income. In periods in which we have a year-to-date pre-tax loss from continuing operations and pre-tax income in other categories of earnings, such as other comprehensive income, we must allocate the tax provision to the other categories of earnings. We then record a related tax benefit in continuing operations. The tax benefit we recorded in the first quarter of 2015 and 2014 was primarily related to the unrealized gains associated with our investments in Regulus.

Net Loss and Net Loss per Share

Net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2015 was $16.7 million, compared to $31.3 million for the same period in 2014. Basic and diluted net loss per share for the three months ended March 31, 2015 was $0.14 per share, compared to $0.27 per share for the same period in 2014. Our net loss decreased in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the first quarter of 2014 primarily due an increase in revenue from milestone payments.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

We have financed our operations with revenue primarily from research and development collaborative agreements. Additionally, we have earned revenue from the sale or licensing of our intellectual property. We have also financed our operations through the sale of our equity securities and the issuance of long-term debt. From our inception through March 31, 2015, we have earned approximately $1.6 billion in revenue from contract research and development and the sale and licensing of our intellectual property. From the time we were founded through March 31, 2015, we have raised net proceeds of approximately $1.1 billion from the sale of our equity securities and we have borrowed approximately $1.3 billion under long-term debt arrangements to finance a portion of our operations.

As of March 31, 2015, our debt and other obligations totaled $642.7 million compared to $643.5 million at December 31, 2014.

The following table summarizes our contractual obligations as of March 31, 2015. The table provides a breakdown of when obligations become due. We provide a more detailed description of the major components of our debt in the paragraphs following the table:

Our contractual obligations consist primarily of our publicly traded convertible debt. In addition, we also have facility leases, equipment financing arrangements and other obligations.

Convertible Debt Summary

In November 2014, we completed a $500 million offering of convertible senior notes, which mature in 2021 and bear interest at 1 percent. We used a substantial portion of the net proceeds from the issuance of these notes to repurchase $140 million in principal of our 2¾ percent convertible senior notes. As a result, the new principal balance of the 2¾ percent notes is $61.2 million.

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At March 31, 2015 our outstanding convertible debt was as follows (amounts in millions unless otherwise noted):

Interest is payable semi-annually for both the 1 percent and 2¾ percent notes. The convertible notes are convertible under certain conditions, at the option of the note holders. We will settle conversions of the notes, at our election, in cash, shares of our common stock or a combination of both.

1 Percent Convertible Senior Notes

We may not redeem the 1 percent notes prior to maturity, and no sinking fund is provided for them. Holders of the 1 percent notes may require us to purchase some or all of their notes upon the occurrence of certain fundamental changes, as set forth in the indenture governing the 1 percent notes, at a purchase price equal to 100 percent of the principal amount of the notes to be purchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest.

2¾ Percent Convertible Senior Notes

We may redeem the 2¾ percent notes at our option, in whole or in part, on or after October 5, 2016 if the last reported sale price of our common stock for at least 20 trading days (whether or not consecutive) during the period of 30 consecutive trading days ending on the trading day immediately preceding the date we provide the redemption notice exceeds 130 percent of the applicable conversion price for the 2¾ percent notes on each such day. The redemption price for the 2¾ percent notes will equal 100 percent of the principal amount being redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest, plus $90 per each $1,000 principal amount being redeemed. Holders of the 2¾ percent notes may require us to purchase some or all of their notes upon the occurrence of certain fundamental changes, as set forth in the indenture governing the 2¾ percent notes, at a purchase price equal to 100 percent of the principal amount of the notes to be purchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest.

Equipment Financing Arrangement

In October 2008, we entered into an equipment financing loan agreement, and in September 2009 and June 2012, we amended the loan agreement to increase the aggregate maximum amount of principal we could draw under the agreement. Each draw down under the loan agreement has a term of three years, with principal and interest payable monthly. Interest on amounts we borrow under the loan agreement is based upon the three year interest rate swap at the time we make each draw down plus 3.5 or four percent, depending on the date of the draw. We are using the equipment purchased under the loan agreement as collateral. As of March 31, 2015, our outstanding borrowings under this loan agreement were at a weighted average interest rate of 4.18 percent. The carrying balance under this loan agreement at March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 was $2.2 million and $3.2 million, respectively. We will continue to use equipment lease financing as long as the terms remain commercially attractive.

Research and Development Facility Lease Obligation

In March 2010, we entered into a lease agreement with an affiliate of BioMed Realty, L.P. Under the lease, BioMed constructed a new facility in Carlsbad, California. The lease has an initial term of 20 years with an option to extend the lease for up to four five-year periods. Our rent under this lease is based on a percentage of the total construction costs spent by BioMed to acquire the land and build the new facility. To gain early access to the facility, we agreed to modify our lease with BioMed to accept additional responsibility. As a result, accounting rules required us to record the cost of the facility as a fixed asset with a corresponding liability. We are depreciating the building over its economic life and we apply our rent payments, which began on January 1, 2012, against the liability over the term of the lease.

In addition to contractual obligations, we had outstanding purchase orders as of March 31, 2015 for the purchase of services, capital equipment and materials as part of our normal course of business.

We plan to continue to enter into collaborations with partners to provide for additional revenue to us and we may incur additional cash expenditures related to our obligations under any of the new agreements we may enter into. We currently intend to use our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments to finance our activities. However, we may also pursue other financing alternatives, like issuing additional shares of our common stock, issuing debt instruments, refinancing our existing debt, or securing lines of credit. Whether we use our existing capital resources or choose to obtain financing will depend on various factors, including the future success of our business, the prevailing interest rate environment and the condition of financial markets generally.

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the following information about the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this report and in our other public filings in evaluating our business. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business could be materially harmed, and our financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. As a result, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you might lose all or part of your investment. We have marked with an asterisk those risk factors that reflect substantive changes from the risk factors included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014.

Risks Associated with our Isis Core and Akcea Therapeutics Businesses

If the market does not accept KYNAMRO and our other drugs, including ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, we are not likely to generate revenues or become consistently profitable.

Even though KYNAMRO is approved for HoFH in the United States, and if any of our other drugs are approved for marketing, including ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, our success will depend upon the medical community, patients and third party payors accepting our drugs as medically useful, cost-effective and safe. Even when the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities approve our or our partners' drugs for commercialization, doctors may not prescribe our drugs to treat patients. We and our partners may not successfully commercialize additional drugs.

In particular, even though KYNAMRO is approved for HoFH in the United States, it may not be commercially successful.

Additionally, in many of the markets where we may sell our drugs in the future, if we cannot agree with the government regarding the price we can charge for our drugs, then we may not be able to sell our drugs in that market.

The degree of market acceptance for KYNAMRO, and any of our other drugs, including ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, depends upon a number of factors, including the:



receipt and scope of regulatory approvals;



establishment and demonstration in the medical and patient community of the efficacy and safety of our drugs and their potential advantages over competing products



cost and effectiveness of our drugs compared to other available therapies



patient convenience of the dosing regimen for our drugs; and



reimbursement policies of government and third-party payors

Based on the profile of our drugs, physicians, patients, patient advocates, payors or the medical community in general may not accept and/or use any drugs that we may develop. In addition, cost control initiatives by governments or third party payors could decrease the price received for KYNAMRO or our other drugs or increase patient coinsurance to a level that makes KYNAMRO or our other drugs, including ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, unaffordable.

If we fail to compete effectively, our drugs, including KYNAMRO, ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, will not contribute significant revenues.

Our competitors engage in drug discovery throughout the world, are numerous, and include, among others, major pharmaceutical companies and specialized biopharmaceutical firms. Other companies engage in developing antisense technology. Our competitors may succeed in developing drugs that are:



priced lower than our drugs;



safer than our drugs;



more effective than our drugs; or



more convenient to use than our drugs.

These competitive developments could make our drugs, including KYNAMRO, ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, obsolete or non-competitive.

Certain of our partners are pursuing other technologies or developing other drugs either on their own or in collaboration with others, including our competitors, to treat the same diseases our own collaborative programs target. Competition may negatively impact a partner's focus on and commitment to our drugs and, as a result, could delay or otherwise negatively affect the commercialization of our drugs, including KYNAMRO, which is approved, ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx.

Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and human resources than we do. In addition, many of these competitors have significantly greater experience than we do in conducting preclinical testing and human clinical studies of new pharmaceutical products and in obtaining FDA and other regulatory approvals of such products. Accordingly, our competitors may succeed in obtaining regulatory approval for products earlier than we do. Marketing and sales capability is another factor relevant to the competitive position of our drugs, and we will rely on our partners or Akcea to provide this capability.

Regarding KYNAMRO, some competitors are pursuing a development or commercialization strategy that competes with our strategy for KYNAMRO. Other companies are currently developing products that could compete with KYNAMRO. Products such as microsomal triglyceride transfer protein inhibitors, or MTP inhibitors, and other lipid lowering drugs other companies are developing or commercializing could potentially compete with KYNAMRO. For example, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. received approval from the FDA and the European Medicines Agency to market its MTP inhibitor, lomitapide, as an adjunct to a low-fat diet and other lipid-lowering treatments in patients with HoFH. Our revenues and financial position could suffer if KYNAMRO cannot compete effectively in the marketplace.

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There are several pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies engaged in the development or commercialization of products against targets that are also targets of products in our development pipeline. For example, drugs like tafamadis, diflunisal, and patisiran could compete with ISIS-TTR_Rx, drugs like Glybera, pradigastat and CAT-2003 could compete with ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, and RG7800 and olesoxime and the other products that may emerge from early development programs designed to treat patients with SMA could compete with ISIS-SMN_Rx.

KYNAMRO is, and, following approval any of our other drugs, including ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, could be, subject to regulatory limitations.

Following approval of a drug, we and our partners must comply with comprehensive government regulations regarding the manufacture, marketing and distribution of drug products. We or our partners may not obtain the labeling claims necessary or desirable for successfully commercializing our drug products, including our approved drug, KYNAMRO, and our drugs in development including: ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx.

The FDA and foreign regulatory authorities have the authority to impose significant restrictions on an approved drug product through the product label and on advertising, promotional and distribution activities. For example:

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KYNAMRO is approved in the United States as an adjunct to lipid-lowering medications and diet to reduce low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, total cholesterol, and non-high density lipoprotein-cholesterol in patients with HoFH;

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the KYNAMRO label contains a Boxed Warning citing a risk of hepatic toxicity; and

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KYNAMRO is available only through a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy called the KYNAMRO REMS.

In addition, when approved, the FDA or a foreign regulatory authority may condition approval on the performance of post-approval clinical studies or patient monitoring, which could be time consuming and expensive. If the results of such post-marketing studies are not satisfactory, the FDA or a foreign regulatory authority may withdraw marketing authorization or may condition continued marketing on commitments from us or our partners that may be expensive and/or time consuming to fulfill.

If we or others identify side effects after any of our drug products are on the market, or if manufacturing problems occur subsequent to regulatory approval, we or our partners may lose regulatory approval, or we or our partners may need to conduct additional clinical studies and/or change the labeling of our drug products including KYNAMRO, ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx.

We depend on our collaboration with Genzyme for the development and commercialization of KYNAMRO.

We have entered into a collaborative arrangement with Genzyme to develop and commercialize KYNAMRO.

We entered into this collaboration primarily to:

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fund some of our development activities for KYNAMRO;

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seek and obtain regulatory approvals for KYNAMRO; and

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successfully commercialize KYNAMRO.

In general, we cannot control the amount and timing of resources that Genzyme devotes to our collaboration. If Genzyme fails to further develop and commercialize KYNAMRO, or if Genzyme's efforts are not effective, our business may be negatively affected. We are relying on Genzyme to obtain additional marketing approvals for and successfully commercialize KYNAMRO. Our collaboration with Genzyme may not continue or result in the successful commercialization of KYNAMRO. Genzyme can terminate our collaboration at any time. If Genzyme stopped developing or commercializing KYNAMRO, we would have to seek additional sources for funding and may have to delay or reduce our development and commercialization programs for KYNAMRO. If Genzyme does not successfully commercialize KYNAMRO, we may receive limited or no revenues for KYNAMRO. In addition, Sanofi's acquisition of Genzyme could disrupt Genzyme or distract it from performing its obligations under our collaboration.

If Genzyme cannot manufacture finished drug product for KYNAMRO or the post-launch supply of the active drug substance for KYNAMRO, KYNAMRO may not achieve or maintain commercial success.

We rely on Genzyme to manufacture the finished drug product for KYNAMRO and the long term supply of KYNAMRO drug substance. Genzyme may not be able to reliably manufacture KYNAMRO drug substance and drug product to support the long term commercialization of KYNAMRO. If Genzyme cannot reliably manufacture KYNAMRO drug substance and drug product, KYNAMRO may not achieve or maintain commercial success, which will harm our ability to generate revenue.

If we or our partners fail to obtain regulatory approval for our drugs, including additional approvals for KYNAMRO or initial approvals for ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, we or our partners cannot sell them in the applicable markets.

We cannot guarantee that any of our drugs, including ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, will be safe and effective, or will be approved for commercialization. In addition, we cannot guarantee that KYNAMRO will be approved in additional markets outside the United States or for additional indications. We and our partners must conduct time-consuming, extensive and costly clinical studies to show the safety and efficacy of each of our drugs, including KYNAMRO, ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, before they can be approved for sale. We must conduct these studies in compliance with FDA regulations and with comparable regulations in other countries.

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We and our partners may not obtain necessary regulatory approvals on a timely basis, if at all, for any of our drugs. It is possible that other regulatory agencies will not approve KYNAMRO or any of our other drugs including, ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx for marketing. If the FDA or another regulatory agency believes that we or our partners have not sufficiently demonstrated the safety or efficacy of any of our drugs, including KYNAMRO, ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, the agency will not approve the specific drug or will require additional studies, which can be time consuming and expensive and which will delay or harm commercialization of the drug. For example, in March 2013 the CHMP of the European Medicines Agency maintained a negative opinion for Genzyme's marketing authorization application for KYNAMRO as a treatment for patients with HoFH.

Failure to receive marketing approval for our drugs, including KYNAMRO outside the United States or initial approvals for ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, or delays in these approvals could prevent or delay commercial introduction of the drug, and, as a result, could negatively impact our ability to generate revenue from product sales.

If the results of clinical testing indicate that any of our drugs are not suitable for commercial use we may need to abandon one or more of our drug development programs.

Drug discovery and development has inherent risks and the historical failure rate for drugs is high. Antisense drugs are a relatively new approach to therapeutics. If we cannot demonstrate that our drugs are safe and effective for human use, we may need to abandon one or more of our drug development programs. There are ongoing clinical studies for KYNAMRO and sales to patients, adverse events from which could negatively impact our pending or planned marketing approval applications and commercialization of KYNAMRO.

In the past, we have invested in clinical studies of drugs that have not met the primary clinical end points in their Phase 3 studies. Similar results could occur in any additional clinical studies for KYNAMRO and in clinical studies for our other drugs, including ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx. If any of our drugs in clinical studies, including KYNAMRO, ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, do not show sufficient efficacy in patients with the targeted indication, it could negatively impact our development and commercialization goals for the drug and our stock price could decline.

Even if our drugs are successful in preclinical and human clinical studies, the drugs may not be successful in late-stage clinical studies.

Successful results in preclinical or initial human clinical studies, including the Phase 3 results for KYNAMRO and the Phase 2 results for some of our other drugs in development, may not predict the results of subsequent clinical studies, including subsequent studies of KYNAMRO and the Phase 3 studies for ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx. There are a number of factors that could cause a clinical study to fail or be delayed, including:

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the clinical study may produce negative or inconclusive results;

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regulators may require that we hold, suspend or terminate clinical research for noncompliance with regulatory requirements;

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we, our partners, the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities could suspend or terminate a clinical study due to adverse side effects of a drug on subjects in the trial;

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we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional preclinical testing or clinical studies;

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enrollment in our clinical studies may be slower than we anticipate;

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the cost of our clinical studies may be greater than we anticipate; and

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the supply or quality of our drugs or other materials necessary to conduct our clinical studies may be insufficient, inadequate or delayed.

Any failure or delay in the clinical studies, including any further studies under the development program for KYNAMRO and the Phase 3 studies for ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, could reduce the commercial potential or viability of our drugs.

If we cannot manufacture our drugs or contract with a third party to manufacture our drugs at costs that allow us to charge competitive prices to buyers, we cannot market our products profitably.

To successfully commercialize any of our drugs, we or our partner would need to establish large-scale commercial manufacturing capabilities either on our own or through a third party manufacturer. In addition, as our drug development pipeline increases and matures, we will have a greater need for clinical trial and commercial manufacturing capacity. We have limited experience manufacturing pharmaceutical products of the chemical class represented by our drugs, called oligonucleotides, on a commercial scale for the systemic administration of a drug. There are a small number of suppliers for certain capital equipment and raw materials that we use to manufacture our drugs, and some of these suppliers will need to increase their scale of production to meet our projected needs for commercial manufacturing. Further, we must continue to improve our manufacturing processes to allow us to reduce our drug costs. We may not be able to manufacture our drugs at a cost or in quantities necessary to make commercially successful products.

Also, manufacturers, including us, must adhere to the FDA's current Good Manufacturing Practices regulations and similar regulations in foreign countries, which the applicable regulatory authorities enforce through facilities inspection programs. We and our contract manufacturers may not comply or maintain compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices, or similar foreign regulations. Non-compliance could significantly delay or prevent receipt of marketing approval for our drugs, including additional approvals for KYNAMRO, and initial approvals for ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, or result in enforcement action after approval that could limit the commercial success of our drugs, including KYNAMRO, ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx.

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We depend on third parties to conduct our clinical studies for our drugs and any failure of those parties to fulfill their obligations could adversely affect our development and commercialization plans.

We depend on independent clinical investigators, contract research organizations and other third-party service providers to conduct our clinical studies for our drugs and expect to continue to do so in the future. For example, we use clinical research organizations, such as Icon Clinical Research Limited, INC Research Toronto, Inc. and Medpace for the clinical studies for our drugs, including KYNAMRO, ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx. We rely heavily on these parties for successful execution of our clinical studies, but do not control many aspects of their activities. For example, the investigators are not our employees. However, we are responsible for ensuring that these third parties conduct each of our clinical studies in accordance with the general investigational plan and approved protocols for the study. Third parties may not complete activities on schedule, or may not conduct our clinical studies in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated protocols. The failure of these third parties to carry out their obligations or a termination of our relationship with these third parties could delay or prevent the development, approval and commercialization of our drugs, including any expanded product label for KYNAMRO and initial approvals for ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx.

Risks Associated with our Businesses as a Whole

We have incurred losses, and our business will suffer if we fail to consistently achieve profitability in the future.*

Because drug discovery and development requires substantial lead-time and money prior to commercialization, our expenses have generally exceeded our revenue since we were founded in January 1989. As of March 31, 2015, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $1.0 billion and stockholders’ equity of approximately $275.9 million. Most of the losses resulted from costs incurred in connection with our research and development programs and from general and administrative costs associated with our operations. Most of our revenue has come from collaborative arrangements, with additional revenue from research grants and the sale or licensing of our patents, as well as interest income. We may incur additional operating losses over the next several years, and these losses may increase if we cannot increase or sustain revenue. We may not successfully develop any additional products or achieve or sustain future profitability.

 

To date, corporate partnering has played a key role in our strategy to fund our development programs and to add key development resources. We plan to continue to rely on additional collaborative arrangements to develop and commercialize our unpartnered drugs. However, we may not be able to negotiate favorable collaborative arrangements for these drug programs. If we cannot continue to secure additional collaborative partners, our revenues could decrease and the development of our drugs could suffer.

Our corporate partners are developing and/or funding many of the drugs in our development pipeline. If any of these pharmaceutical companies stops developing and/or funding these drugs, our business could suffer and we may not have, or be willing to dedicate, the resources available to develop these drugs on our own.

Our collaborators can terminate their relationships with us under certain circumstances, many of which are outside of our control. In the past, based on the disappointing results of Phase 3 clinical studies, we had a partner discontinue its investment in one of our drugs.

Even with funding from corporate partners, if our partners do not effectively perform their obligations under our agreements with them, it would delay or stop the progress of our drug development programs.

In addition to receiving funding, we enter into collaborative arrangements with third parties to:

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conduct clinical studies;

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seek and obtain regulatory approvals; and

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manufacture, market and sell our drugs.

Once we have secured a collaborative arrangement to further develop and commercialize one of our drug development programs, such as our collaborations with AstraZeneca, Biogen, Genzyme, GSK, and Roche these collaborations may not continue or result in commercialized drugs, or may not progress as quickly as we first anticipated.

For example, a collaborator such as AstraZeneca, Biogen, Genzyme, GSK, or Roche, could determine that it is in its financial interest to:

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pursue alternative technologies or develop alternative products that may be competitive with the drug that is part of the collaboration with us;

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pursue higher-priority programs or change the focus of its own development programs; or

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choose to devote fewer resources to our drugs than it does for its own drugs.

If any of these occur, it could affect our partner's commitment to the collaboration with us and could delay or otherwise negatively affect the commercialization of our drugs, including KYNAMRO, ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx.

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If we do not progress in our programs as anticipated, the price of our securities could decrease.

For planning purposes, we estimate and may disclose the timing of a variety of clinical, regulatory and other milestones, such as when we anticipate a certain drug will enter the clinic, when we anticipate completing a clinical study, or when we anticipate filing an application for marketing approval. We base our estimates on present facts and a variety of assumptions. Many underlying assumptions are outside of our control. If we do not achieve milestones in accordance with our or our investors' expectations, including milestones for additional approvals or sales expectations of KYNAMRO or milestones related to the Phase 3 programs for ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, the price of our securities could decrease.

For example, in March 2013 the CHMP of the European Medicines Agency maintained a negative opinion for Genzyme's marketing authorization application for KYNAMRO as a treatment for patients with HoFH.

If we cannot protect our patents or our other proprietary rights, others may compete more effectively against us.

Our success depends to a significant degree upon whether we can continue to develop and secure intellectual property rights to proprietary products and services. However, we may not receive issued patents on any of our pending patent applications in the United States or in other countries. In addition, the scope of any of our issued patents may not be sufficiently broad to provide us with a competitive advantage. Furthermore, our issued patents or patents licensed to us may be successfully challenged, invalidated or circumvented so that our patent rights would not create an effective competitive barrier or revenue source.

Intellectual property litigation could be expensive and prevent us from pursuing our programs.*

From time to time we have to defend our intellectual property rights. In the event of an intellectual property dispute, we sometimes need to litigate to defend our rights or assert them against others. Disputes can involve arbitration, litigation or proceedings declared by the United States Patent and Trademark Office or the International Trade Commission or foreign patent authorities. Intellectual property litigation can be extremely expensive, and this expense, as well as the consequences should we not prevail, could seriously harm our business. For example, in November 2013 we filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Gilead Sciences Inc. in the United States District Court of the Northern District of California. Intellectual property lawsuits may be costly and may not be resolved in our favor.

If a third party claims that our drugs or technology infringe its patents or other intellectual property rights, we may have to discontinue an important product or product line, alter our products and processes, pay license fees or cease certain activities. We may not be able to obtain a license to needed intellectual property on favorable terms, if at all. There are many patents issued or applied for in the biotechnology industry, and we may not be aware of patents or patent applications held by others that relate to our business. This is especially true since patent applications in the United States are filed confidentially for the first 18 months. Moreover, the validity and breadth of biotechnology patents involve complex legal and factual questions for which important legal issues remain.

If we fail to obtain timely funding, we may need to curtail or abandon some of our programs.*

Many of our drugs are undergoing clinical studies or are in the early stages of research and development. All of our drug programs will require significant additional research, development, preclinical and/or clinical testing, regulatory approval and/or commitment of significant additional resources prior to their successful commercialization. As of March 31, 2015, we had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments equal to $695.1 million. If we do not meet our goals to successfully commercialize KYNAMRO and our other drugs, including ISIS-APOCIII_Rx, ISIS-SMN_Rx and ISIS-TTR_Rx, or to license our drugs and proprietary technologies, we will need additional funding in the future. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, such as the following:

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additional marketing approvals and successful commercial launch of KYNAMRO;

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changes in existing collaborative relationships and our ability to establish and maintain additional collaborative arrangements;

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continued scientific progress in our research, drug discovery and development programs;

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the size of our programs and progress with preclinical and clinical studies;