You would think that naming a drug company for the Egyptian goddess of healing would be a good idea. Up until recently, it was a great choice as a name for a pharmaceutical firm, but recent world news has made given the name some bad connotations. The name? Isis.
Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. has changed its name to Ionis Pharmaceuticals to avoid confusion with the Islamic State terrorist group that is often known as the acronym ISIS. The company had been resisting making the change for some time.
Ionis, based in Carlsbad, CA, develops drugs for rare diseases.
The drug developer's old name had become a distraction, Dr. Amy Williford, associate director of corporate communications for Ionis, told Reuters Health. Every time ISIS came up in the news-and ISIS has been coming up frequently-the company would be on the receiving end of calls and questions from the media, she said. And the association in people's minds was not a good one since ISIS claims responsibility for the many violent attacks, including the attacks in Paris in November. ISIS recruits have been implicated in the shooting deaths in San Bernardino, CA. The terrorist group is also known as ISIL and Daesh.
Keeping the name was simply not helping the drug company. "We wanted to have a good feeling associated with the company," said Williford. Employee safety was also a concern, especially since the firm's scientists and employees travel. Having "Isis" on your business card or your brief case was bound to cause problems.
Last year, the company stated strongly that it would not change its name. "They can easily distinguish between us and a Middle Eastern terrorist group," Vice President of Corporate Communications D. Wade Walke told The Associated Press at the time. But time and events forced a reassessment of that stand.
The process for changing the name of a company can be complicated and includes changing contracts and legal documents. Ionis is also changing its stock ticker symbol to "IONS" from "ISIS" and its website address to ionispharma.com.