Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(
ISIS
) recently announced that it has invested $3 million in biopharma
company
Regulus Therapeutics Inc.'s
(
RGLS
) common stock at the latter's initial public offering. Isis Pharma
currently holds approximately 18% (7 million shares) of Regulus'
common stock on a fully diluted basis.
Regulus, founded by
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
(
ALNY
) and Isis Pharma, announced the pricing of its initial public
offering earlier this month. Regulus offered 11.25 million shares
of its common stock at $4.00 per share. Regulus started trading on
NASDAQ from October 4, 2012.
We note that apart from Isis Pharma,
AstraZeneca
(
AZN
) has purchased 6.25 million shares of Regulus at the initial
public offer price. In August 2012, Regulus had filed a
registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) regarding the initial public offering of its
shares.
In the filing, Regulus indicated that
Sanofi
(
SNY
) and
GlaxoSmithKline
(
GSK
) have shown an interest in buying Regulus's common stock, worth up
to $10 million and $2 million, respectively, at the initial public
offering price.
In September 2007, Alnylam and Isis Pharma joined forces to
establish Regulus, a company focused on microRNA (mRNA)
therapeutics. In October 2010, Sanofi made an equity investment in
the company. As of June 30, 2012, Regulus was jointly owned by
Alnylam (45%), Isis Pharma (46%) and Sanofi (9%).
Regulus is evaluating microRNA therapeutics in several areas
including oncology, fibrosis, hepatitis C virus infection, multiple
sclerosis and atherosclerosis. The company has collaborated with
several companies including Glaxo, Sanofi, AstraZeneca and
Biogen Idec
(
BIIB
) for microRNA therapeutics.
Our Recommendation
Currently, we have a Neutral recommendation on both Isis Pharma and
Alnylam. Both companies carry a short-term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold
rating).
ALNYLAM PHARMA (ALNY): Free Stock Analysis
Report
ASTRAZENECA PLC (AZN): Free Stock Analysis
Report
BIOGEN IDEC INC (BIIB): Free Stock Analysis
Report
GLAXOSMITHKLINE (GSK): Free Stock Analysis
Report
ISIS PHARMACEUT (ISIS): Free Stock Analysis
Report
(RGLS): ETF Research Reports
SANOFI-AVENTIS (SNY): Free Stock Analysis
Report
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