Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc Q4 2021 Earnings Call Summary

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Gary Jay Nachman - BMO Capital Markets Equity Research - Analyst : First, the follow-on product Biogen license for SMA, describe it a bit more. How similar is it to SPINRAZA in terms of mechanism? And what have you been able to do to potentially extend the dosing intervals for it? And when do you think Biogen might enter the clinic with it? And then the second question is just talk about some of the progress you've been making on the commercial side, preparing for eplontersen. How collaborative has the process been so far with AstraZeneca? And any sense of how big the sales forces will be for both you and AstraZeneca to capitalize on the PN opportunity and then prepare for the cardiomyopathy as well?

Question: Jessica Macomber Fye - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : I had a couple -- it looks like you're going to have 2 updates this year for the HAE program: one in the first half, one in the second half. Can you elaborate on what types of data we should expect you to share in each of those 2 updates? And then second, what do you see as the benchmark for differentiated LDL lowering with ION449? Like what constitutes a meaningful difference relative to inclisiran?