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Significant Accounting Policies (Tables) | 6 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2019
Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Basic Net Income (Loss) per Share | Our basic net loss per share for the three months ended June 30, 2019, was calculated as follows (in thousands, except per share amounts):
Three months ended June 30, 2019 |  | Weighted Average Shares Owned in Akcea |  |  | Akcea’s Net Loss Per Share |  |  | Ionis’ Portion of Akcea’s Net Loss |
Common shares |  |  | 70,221 |  |  | $ | (0.40 | ) |  | $ | (28,244 | )
Akcea’s net loss attributable to our ownership |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | (28,244 | )
Ionis’ stand-alone net income |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 27,311 |
Net loss available to Ionis common stockholders |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | (933 | )
Weighted average shares outstanding |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 140,247 |
Basic net loss per share |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | (0.01 | )
Our basic net income per share for the six months ended June 30, 2019, was calculated as follows (in thousands, except per share amounts):
Six months ended June 30, 2019 |  | Weighted Average Shares Owned in Akcea |  |  | Akcea’s Net Loss Per Share |  |  | Ionis’ Portion of Akcea’s Net Loss |
Common shares |  |  | 69,406 |  |  | $ | (0.06 | ) |  | $ | (4,380 | )
Akcea’s net loss attributable to our ownership |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | (4,380 | )
Ionis’ stand-alone net income |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 91,008 |
Net income available to Ionis common stockholders |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | 86,628 |
Weighted average shares outstanding |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 139,419 |
Basic net income per share |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | 0.62 |
Our basic net loss per share for the three months ended June 30, 2018, was calculated as follows (in thousands, except per share amounts):
Three months ended June 30, 2018 |  | Weighted Average Shares Owned in Akcea |  |  | Akcea’s Net Loss Per Share |  |  | Ionis’ Portion of Akcea’s Net Loss |
Common shares |  |  | 60,832 |  |  | $ | (0.72 | ) |  | $ | (43,814 | )
Akcea’s net loss attributable to our ownership |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | (43,814 | )
Ionis’ stand-alone net income |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 5,882 |
Net loss available to Ionis common stockholders |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | (37,932 | )
Weighted average shares outstanding |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 128,712 |
Basic net loss per share |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | (0.29 | )
Our basic net loss per share for the six months ended June 30, 2018, was calculated as follows (in thousands, except per share amounts):
Six months ended June 30, 2018 |  | Weighted Average Shares Owned in Akcea |  |  | Akcea’s Net Loss Per Share |  |  | Ionis’ Portion of Akcea’s Net Loss |
Common shares |  |  | 53,183 |  |  | $ | (1.19 | ) |  | $ | (63,198 | )
Akcea’s net loss attributable to our ownership |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | (63,198 | )
Ionis’ stand-alone net income |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 24,668 |
Net income available to Ionis common stockholders |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | (38,530 | )
Weighted average shares outstanding |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 127,030 |
Basic net loss per share |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | (0.30 | )
Basic and Diluted Net Income Per Share | We calculated our diluted net income per share for the six months ended June 30, 2019 as follows (in thousands except per share amounts):
Six months ended June 30, 2019 |  | Income (Numerator) |  |  | Shares (Denominator) |  |  | Per-Share Amount |
Net income available to Ionis common stockholders |  | $ | 86,628 |  |  |  | 139,419 |  |  | $ | 0.62 |
Effect of dilutive securities: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Shares issuable upon exercise of stock options |  |  | — |  |  |  | 2,327 |  |  |  |  |
Shares issuable upon restricted stock award issuance |  |  | — |  |  |  | 745 |  |  |  |  |
Shares issuable related to our Employee Stock Purchase Plan |  |  | — |  |  |  | 8 |  |  |  |  |
Income available to Ionis common stockholders |  | $ | 86,628 |  |  |  | 142,499 |  |  | $ | 0.61 |
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 six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, we used the following weighted-average assumptions in our Black-Scholes calculations: Ionis Employee Stock Options:
|  | Six Months Ended June 30, |
|  | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |
Risk-free interest rate |  |  | 2.4 | % |  |  | 2.3 | %
Dividend yield |  |  | 0.0 | % |  |  | 0.0 | %
Volatility |  |  | 60.3 | % |  |  | 63.1 | %
Expected life |  | 4.6 years |  |  | 4.6 years |
Ionis Board of Director Stock Options:
|  | Six Months Ended June 30, 2019 |
Risk-free interest rate |  |  | 2.0 | %
Dividend yield |  |  | 0.0 | %
Volatility |  |  | 60.6 | %
Expected life |  | 6.7 years |
Weighted-Average Assumptions for ESPP | Ionis ESPP:
Stock-Based Compensation Expense | The following table summarizes stock-based compensation expense for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018 (in thousands).
|  | Three Months Ended June 30, |  |  | Six Months Ended June 30, |
|  | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |  |  | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |
Cost of products sold |  | $ | 137 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 255 |  |  | $ | — |
Research, development and patent |  |  | 23,756 |  |  |  | 19,236 |  |  |  | 48,191 |  |  |  | 38,918 |
Selling, general and administrative |  |  | 18,040 |  |  |  | 14,640 |  |  |  | 38,991 |  |  |  | 23,409 |
Total non-cash stock-based compensation expense |  | $ | 41,933 |  |  | $ | 33,876 |  |  | $ | 87,437 |  |  | $ | 62,327 |
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 six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018: Akcea Employee Stock Options:
|  | Six Months Ended June 30, |
|  | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |
Risk-free interest rate |  |  | 2.5 | % |  |  | 2.8 | %
Dividend yield |  |  | 0.0 | % |  |  | 0.0 | %
Volatility |  |  | 76.3 | % |  |  | 77.7 | %
Expected life |  | 6.1 years |  |  | 6.1 years |
Akcea Board of Directors Stock Options:
|  | Six Months Ended June 30, |
|  | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |
Risk-free interest rate |  |  | 1.9 | % |  |  | 2.9 | %
Dividend yield |  |  | 0.0 | % |  |  | 0.0 | %
Volatility |  |  | 74.3 | % |  |  | 78.2 | %
Expected life |  | 6.3 years |  |  | 6.4 years |
Weighted-Average Assumptions for ESPP | Akcea ESPP:
|  | Six Months Ended June 30, |
|  | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |
Risk-free interest rate |  |  | 2.5 | % |  |  | 1.6 | %
Dividend yield |  |  | 0.0 | % |  |  | 0.0 | %
Volatility |  |  | 64.1 | % |  |  | 62.3 | %
Expected life |  | 6 months |  |  | 6 months |

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