IONIS PHARMACEUTICALS INC

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023

For the transition period from ___________ to ___________

Commission file number 000-19125

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

760-931-9200

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒No☐

Indicate by check if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes☐No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒No☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒No☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management assessment of the effectiveness of its internal controls over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b).☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes☐ No☒

The approximate aggregate market value of the voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant, based upon the last sale price of the common stock reported on The Nasdaq Global Select Market was $4,243,321,410 as of June 30, 2023.*

The number of shares of voting common stock outstanding as of February 15, 2024 was 145,751,797.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement to be filed on or about April 25, 2024 with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the Registrant’s annual meeting of stockholders to be held on June 6, 2024 are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Report.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This report on Form 10-K and the information incorporated herein by reference includes forward-looking statements regarding our business and the therapeutic and commercial potential of our commercial medicines, additional medicines in development and technologies. Any statement describing our 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 and particularly those inherent in the process of discovering, developing and commercializing medicines that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics, and in the endeavor of building a business around such medicines. Our forward-looking statements also involve assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove correct, could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this report on Form 10-K, including those identified in Item 1A entitled “Risk Factors”. Although our forward-looking statements reflect the good faith judgment of our management, these statements are based only on facts and factors currently known by us. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements for any reason. As a result, you are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements.

In this report, unless the context requires otherwise, “Ionis,” “Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us” refers to Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Summary of Risk Factors

There are a number of risks related to our business and our securities. Below is a summary of material factors that make an investment in our securities speculative or risky. Importantly, this summary does not address all of the risks that we face. Additional discussion of the risks summarized in this risk factor summary, as well as other risks that we face, can be found in this report on Form 10-K in Item 1A entitled “Risk Factors”:

TRADEMARKS

“Ionis,” the Ionis logo, and other trademarks or service marks of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. appearing in this report are the property of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. “Akcea,” the Akcea logo, and other trademarks or service marks of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. appearing in this report are the property of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., Ionis’ wholly owned subsidiary. This report contains additional trade names, trademarks and service marks of others, which are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, trademarks and trade names referred to in this report may appear without the ® or TM symbols.

CORPORATE INFORMATION

We incorporated in California in 1989 and in January 1991 we changed our state of incorporation to Delaware. In December 2015, we changed our name to Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Our principal offices are in Carlsbad, California.

We make available, free of charge, on our website, www.ionispharma.com, our reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K and amendments thereto, as soon as reasonably practicable after we file such materials with, or furnish such materials to, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. Periodically, we provide updates about the company in the Newsroom section of the Investors & Media page of our website. Any information that we include on or link to our website is not a part of this report or any registration statement that incorporates this report by reference. The SEC maintains an internet site, www.sec.gov, that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information that we file electronically with the SEC.

FORM 10-K

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2023