=Ionis Pharma (IONS) reported earnings on Tue 28 Feb 17 (b/o)

• #97 on Mon 2/27

Ionis Pharma beats by $0.51, beats on revs; sees FY17 break-even or profitability on the operating line on a pro forma basis :

• Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.33 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.51 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.18); revenues rose 210.7% year/year to $160.3 mln vs the $97.47 mln Capital IQ Consensus. 
• Preannounced Jan 6: More than $150 mln in Q4 rev vs. $87 mln consensus; FY16 adj. operating income low to mid $50 mln.
• In 2017, Ionis plans to achieve the following objectives:
  • Support Biogen in expanding access to SPINRAZA
    • Assist Biogen with regulatory approval in the EU and filings in multiple countries outside the U.S., including Japan, Australia and Canada
  • Advance volanesorsen and IONIS-TTRRx toward the market
    • File regulatory submissions for volanesorsen with Akcea, if Phase 3 study is positive
    • File regulatory submissions for IONIS-TTRRx with GSK, if Phase 3 study is positive
    • Build out U.S. and EU commercial infrastructure and prepare for commercial launch of volanesorsen through Akcea
    • Assist GSK in preparing for commercial launch of IONIS-TTRRx
  • Advance the pipeline
    • Report clinical data on multiple drugs, including: Phase 3 data for volanesorsen in patients with familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) Phase 3 data for IONIS-TTRRx in patients with transthyretin (:TTR) familial amyloid polyneuropathy (:FAP)
    • Advance volanesorsen Phase 3 study in patients with familial partial lipodystrophy (FPL)
    • Initiate multiple clinical studies
    • Advance multiple LICA and Generation 2.5 drugs in development
  • Broaden the pipeline by adding three to five new drugs into development
  • Continue to advance antisense technology
  • Achieve break-even or profitability on the operating line on a pro forma basis (FY17 EPS consensus $0.78).
• "In 2017, we expect to continue to have a strong R&D revenue base that funds most of our pro forma operating expenses. To that revenue base, we are adding commercial revenue from SPINRAZA royalties. This revenue is nearly all profit to us, in other words we have only a nominal amount of corresponding expense associated with it. For 2017, we expect our operating expenses to be essentially flat compared to 2016; however, the composition of our expenses will change to reflect the evolution of our business. We plan to continue to increase our commercial spending for volanesorsen as our subsidiary, Akcea, prepares to launch volanesorsen globally in 2018. These increases will be offset by a decrease in our R&D expenses, reflecting the fact that our current Phase 3 programs are coming to a close."