Isis Announces Equity Investment in Ibis Biosciences Subsidiary by Abbott; Option Acquired to Purchase Remaining I...( - Conference call webcast Thursday...)

- Conference call webcast Thursday, January 31, 2008, 8:30 a.m. EST at

http://www.isispharm.com

CARLSBAD, Calif., Jan. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISIS) announced today that Abbott is investing up to $40 million in Ibis Biosciences, Inc., an Isis subsidiary. The investment will allow Ibis to further develop the Ibis T5000(TM) Biosensor System, which offers a unique solution for rapid identification and characterization of infectious agents that can identify virtually all bacteria, viruses and fungi, and can provide information about drug resistance, virulence and strain type of these pathogens within a few hours.

Under the terms of the agreement, Abbott will initially acquire approximately 10.25 percent of the equity in Ibis for $20 million. Abbott will have the right to invest an additional $20 million before July 31, 2008 for a total of 18.6 percent of Ibis equity. Abbott will also receive an exclusive option to purchase the remaining equity in Ibis for an additional $175 to $195 million through June 30, 2009 plus an earn out tied to achievement of certain cumulative sales. The option exercise price can increase to up to $190 to $210 million with Ibis' successful completion of pre-negotiated milestones.

"This investment by Abbott reflects the significant value we have built through our Ibis business," said Michael Treble, President of Ibis. "We have been successful in commercializing our products for various government, epidemiology and clinical research applications, and we are excited about expanding our markets to hospital-based infections and, eventually, to diagnostics. We believe that this in
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