For example, Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) is the leading developer of antisense technology to discover and develop novel drugs. Its broad clinical and preclinical pipeline targets a wide variety of diseases, with an emphasis on cardiovascular, metabolic, neurological, and rare diseases.
Themes: Ionis is exposed to medicine and neuroscience, nano technology, and big data and analytics.
Fair Value Estimate: We assign Ionis a fair value of estimate of $62 per share, implying a 2021 enterprise value/sales multiple of 12 times.
Growth Forecast: Ionis relies on up-front payments and licensing fees from partners, as well as Spinraza royalties, to drive revenue today, but its pipeline should help diversify revenue by the mid-2020s. In our base case, we assume Ionis sees revenue growing to $3.1 billion by 2030 from under $1.0 billion last year, with operating margins approaching 50%.
Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: We assign Ionis a narrow economic moat based on its proprietary antisense oligonucleotide technology, which has led to three approved RNA-based drugs and a steadily growing pipeline.
