Isis Pharmaceuticals on Friday announced that it will change its name to Ionis Pharmaceuticals.
The company's shares, which now trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker "ISIS," will trade under the new ticker symbol "IONS." The new ticker symbol will become effective on December 22.
Ionis Pharmaceuticals did not mention the so-called Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS, but chief operating officer Lynne Parshall said in a statement: "Our goal is to create medicines that will save patients' lives, and we are proud to be at the forefront of creating innovative medicines. We decided to change our company name because, when people see or hear our name, we want them to think about the life-saving medicines we are developing."
The company is also changing its website address to www.ionispharma.com.