Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., said it earned a milestone payment of $7.5 million from Biogen Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., for advancing nusinersen (formerly ISIS-SMNRx) in the open-label extension study, SHINE, initiated in October 2015 to provide nusinersen to infants and children with spinal muscular atrophy who completed their participation in the phase III ENDEAR and CHERISH studies and are eligible for participation.