Isis Acquires Symphony GenIsis, will Collaborate with Ortho-McNeil

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Carlsbad, CA), has purchased Symphony GenIsis for $120 million. As part of the Symphony GenIsis purchase price, Isis paid Symphony Capital $80.4 million in cash and approximately 3.4 million shares of Isis stock, for an aggregate value of $39.6 million based on a 60-day average closing price before the date Isis exercised the repurchase.

Symphony GenIsis was formed in April 2006 by Symphony Capital Partners, L.P., and capitalized with $75 million to fund the development of three of Isis’ drugs. As part of that transaction, Isis licensed to Symphony GenIsis its cholesterol-lowering ISIS 301012 drug program, which targets apolipoprotein B-100, and two diabetes programs for the development of ISIS 325568 and ISIS 377131.

On September 13, 2007, Isis announced its metabolic disease-focused collaboration with Ortho-McNeil, Inc., to discover, develop, and commercialize up to four antisense drugs, which prompted the purchase of GenIsis. The collaboration includes licensing of two of the drugs previously held by Symphony GenIsis-ISIS 325568 and ISIS 377131-that target glucagon and glucocorticoid receptor.