CARLSBAD, Calif., May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISIS) announced today that it will conduct the third of its series of four conference calls focused on the drugs in Isis' development pipeline. The third call of the series will focus on Isis' cancer franchise and will be held on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Each of the calls highlights a different therapeutic franchise and provides higher-level strategic insight into target selection, development path and market opportunity for each drug, and how each drug fits into Isis' portfolio.

Conference Call

At 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday, May 19, 2010, Isis will conduct a live webcast conference call. Interested parties may listen to the call by dialing 866-711-8198 and refer to passcode "ISIS 2010" or access the webcast at www.isispharm.com. A webcast replay will be available for a limited time at the same address.

Isis' Cancer Franchise

Cancer accounts for nearly one-quarter of deaths in the United States. The American Cancer Society predicts that one in two American men and one in three American women will develop cancer. Isis is pursuing the discovery and development of antisense drugs to treat multiple types of cancer in its own programs and through its partnerships with OncoGenex Technologies Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company. Isis and its partners have presented clinical data on multiple anti-cancer antisense drugs demonstrating that antisense drugs reduce disease targets in humans with cancer and provide therapeutic benefit at doses that are well tolerated. In addition to the drugs in its development pipeline, Isis' cancer franchise includes a variety of early stage programs that could offer new approaches to treating cancer.

About Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Isis is exploiting its expertise in RNA to discover and develop novel drugs for its product pipeline and for its partners. The Company has successfully commercialized the world's first antisense drug and has 22 drugs in development. Isis' drug development programs are focused on treating cardiovascular, metabolic, and severe neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Isis' partners are developing antisense drugs invented by Isis to treat a wide variety of diseases. Isis and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals are joint owners of Regulus Therapeutics Inc., a company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of microRNA therapeutics. Isis also has made significant innovations beyond human therapeutics resulting in products that other companies, including Abbott, are commercializing. As an innovator in RNA-based drug discovery and development, Isis is the owner or exclusive licensee of over 1,600 issued patents worldwide. Additional information about Isis is available at www.isispharm.com.

This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding the development, activity, therapeutic potential and safety of the drugs in Isis' cardiovascular pipeline. Any statement describing Isis' 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. Isis' forward-looking statements also involve assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove correct, could cause its results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although Isis' forward-looking statements reflect the good faith judgment of its management, these statements are based only on facts and factors currently known by Isis. As a result, you are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These and other risks concerning Isis' programs are described in additional detail in Isis' annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 and its most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q, which are on file with the SEC. Copies of these and other documents are available from the Company.

In this press release, unless the context requires otherwise, "Isis," "Company," "we," "our," and "us" refers to Isis Pharmaceuticals and its subsidiaries, including Regulus Therapeutics Inc.

Isis Pharmaceuticals is a registered trademark of Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Regulus Therapeutics is a trademark of Regulus Therapeutics Inc.

SOURCE Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.