UPDATE 1-Isis Pharma posts Q1 profit on one-time gain

* Q1 EPS 1.57 vs. loss $0.06/shr a year ago

* Revenue rises 72 pct to $31.6 mln

May 7 (Reuters) - Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc (ISIS.O) swung to a quarterly profit, reflecting a gain from the sale of its unit Ibis Biosciences to Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N).

For the first quarter, the company posted a net income of $171.8 million, or $1.57 a share, compared with a net loss of $5.8 million, or 6 cents a share, a year earlier.

Isis recognized a gain of $171.8 million from selling its Ibis Biosciences subsidiary to Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter.

Revenue rose 72 percent to $31.6 million, driven mainly by increase in revenue from the company's collaboration with Genzyme Corp (GENZ.O).

As part of an agreement with Genzyme, in the first quarter of 2008, Genzyme purchased Isis stock at a significant premium to the then market price and in the second quarter of 2008 paid Isis a license fee, Isis said.

Isis is amortizing the premium on the stock and the license fee into revenue through June 2012.

Shares of Isis closed at $15.24 Wednesday on Nasdaq.

For the alerts, double click [ID:nWNAB5254] (Reporting by Anand Basu in Bangalore; Editing by Aradhana Aravindan)