Drug company opts for new name, dropping ISIS

More than 25 years after selecting a name tied to an Egyptian goddess of health and wealth being, ISIS Pharmaceuticals (ISIS) is changing its name, thanks to an unintended brand association with a terrorist group.

The company, which makes drugs to treat ailments including cancer and heart disease, on Friday said it will now go by the name of Ionis (pronounced "eye-OH-nis") Pharmaceuticals.

"We decided to change our company name because, when people see or hear our name, we want them to think about the life-saving medicines we are developing," Lynne Parshall, the company's chief operating officer said in a statement.

Last month, the company said it was mulling a change. As spokesperson Wade Walke told CBS MoneyWatch, "Obviously we were not named after a terrorist group."

Others in the same situation are tacking a different tact. Isis Books and Gifts, a Denver-area bookstore vandalized after the terror attacks in Paris, said it would not change its name.

On Tuesday, the company's stock ticker changes to "IONS."