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Significant Accounting Policies (Tables) | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2019
Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Basic Net Income (Loss) per Share | Our basic net income per share for the three months ended March 31, 2019, was calculated as follows (in thousands, except per share amounts):
Three months ended March 31, 2019 |  | Weighted Average Shares Owned in Akcea |  |  | Akcea’s Net Income Per Share |  |  | Ionis’ Portion of Akcea’s Net Loss |
Common shares |  |  | 68,582 |  |  | $ | 0.35 |  |  | $ | 23,846 |
Akcea’s net income attributable to our ownership |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | 23,846 |
Ionis’ stand-alone net income |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 63,697 |
Net income available to Ionis common stockholders |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | 87,543 |
Weighted average shares outstanding |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 138,582 |
Basic net income per share |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | 0.63 |
Our basic net loss per share for the three months ended March 31, 2018, was calculated as follows (in thousands, except per share amounts):
Three months ended March 31, 2018 |  | Weighted Average Shares Owned in Akcea |  |  | Akcea’s Net Loss Per Share |  |  | Ionis’ Portion of Akcea’s Net Loss |
Common shares |  |  | 45,448 |  |  | $ | (0.44 | ) |  | $ | (19,997 | )
Akcea’s net loss attributable to our ownership |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | (19,997 | )
Ionis’ stand-alone net income |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 18,785 |
Net loss available to Ionis common stockholders |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | (1,212 | )
Weighted average shares outstanding |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 125,330 |
Basic net loss per share |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | (0.01 | )
Basic and Diluted Net Income Per Share | We calculated our diluted net income per share for the three months ended March 31, 2019 as follows (in thousands except per share amounts):
Three months ended March 31, 2019 |  | Income (Numerator) |  |  | Shares (Denominator) |  |  | Per-Share Amount |
Net income available to Ionis common stockholders |  | $ | 87,543 |  |  |  | 138,582 |  |  | $ | 0.63 |
Effect of dilutive securities: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Shares issuable upon exercise of stock options |  |  | — |  |  |  | 2,252 |  |  |  |  |
Shares issuable upon restricted stock award issuance |  |  | — |  |  |  | 665 |  |  |  |  |
Shares issuable related to our ESPP |  |  | — |  |  |  | 38 |  |  |  |  |
Income available to Ionis common stockholders |  | $ | 87,543 |  |  |  | 141,537 |  |  | $ | 0.62 |
Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Weighted-Average Assumptions for Stock Options | We use the Black-Scholes model to estimate the fair value of stock options granted and stock purchase rights under our ESPP. The expected term of stock options granted represents the period of time that we expect them to be outstanding. We estimate the expected term of options granted based on historical exercise patterns. For the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, we used the following weighted-average assumptions in our Black-Scholes calculations: Ionis Employee Stock Options:
| Three Months Ended March 31,
| 2019 |  | 2018
Risk-free interest rate |  | 2.4% |  |  | 2.2%
Dividend yield |  | 0.0% |  |  | 0.0%
Volatility |  | 60.3% |  |  | 63.2%
Expected life |  | 4.6 years |  |  | 4.6 years
Weighted-Average Assumptions for ESPP | Ionis ESPP:
| Three Months Ended March 31,
| 2019 |  | 2018
Risk-free interest rate |  | 2.5% |  |  | 1.6%
Dividend yield |  | 0.0% |  |  | 0.0%
Volatility |  | 45.5% |  |  | 44.4%
Expected life |  | 6 months |  |  | 6 months
Stock-Based Compensation Expense | The following table summarizes stock-based compensation expense for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 (in thousands). Our non-cash stock-based compensation expense includes $18.6 million and $6.4 million of stock-based compensation expense for Akcea employees for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
|  | Three Months Ended March 31, |
|  | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |
Cost of products sold |  | $ | 118 |  |  | $ | — |
Research, development and patent |  |  | 24,435 |  |  |  | 19,682 |
Selling, general and administrative |  |  | 20,952 |  |  |  | 8,769 |
Total |  | $ | 45,505 |  |  | $ | 28,451 |
Akcea [Member] |
Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Weighted-Average Assumptions for Stock Options | In addition to our stock plans, Akcea has its own stock plan under which it grants options and RSUs and under which it derives its stock-based compensation expense. The following are the weighted-average Black-Scholes assumptions Akcea used under its plan for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and March 31, 2018: Akcea Employee Stock Options:
| Three Months Ended March 31,
| 2019 |  | 2018
Risk-free interest rate |  | 2.5% |  |  | 2.6%
Dividend yield |  | — |  |  | —
Volatility |  | 76.4% |  |  | 77.1%
Expected life |  | 6.1 years |  |  | 6.1 years
Weighted-Average Assumptions for ESPP | Akcea ESPP:
| Three Months Ended March 31,
| 2019 |  | 2018
Risk-free interest rate |  | 2.5% |  |  | 1.6%
Dividend yield |  | — |  |  | —
Volatility |  | 64.1% |  |  | 62.3%
Expected life |  | 6 months |  |  | 6 months

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