GERON REGAINS RIGHTS FOR TELOMERASE INHIBITORS.Geron Corporation (Nasdaq:GERN v. t. 1. To grin or yawn. ), Menlo Park, Calif., has regained all rights to its telomerase telomerase /telo·mer·ase/ (te-lo´mer-as) a DNA polymerase involved in the formation of telomeres and the maintenance of telomere sequences during replication. te·lom·er·ase n. inhibitors from Pharmacia Corporation. Pharmacia had acquired the product rights in 1997 to treat human cancers in selected territories. Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd., a Japanese pharmaceutical company, continues to hold rights to certain Asian territories. "We are delighted to regain our product rights for telomerase inhibitors," said Thomas B. Okarma, Ph.D., M.D., Geron's president and chief executive officer. "Pharmacia has been a good partner and shares our view on the importance of telomerase as a cancer target. We have compounds which are active telomerase inhibitors in human cancer cells in vitro in vitro /in vi·tro/ (in ve´tro) [L.] within a glass; observable in a test tube; in an artificial environment. in vi·tro adj. In an artificial environment outside a living organism. , as well as in animal models. We are committed to improve the potency and specificity of these compounds and to advance them into clinical development." Telomerase Oncology Division "We are establishing an Oncology Division to accelerate the development of our oncology products that target telomerase," continued Dr. Okarma. "In addition to small molecule inhibitors of telomerase, we have progressed our template antagonist program and have demonstrated killing of human tumor cells in animals with these compounds. Further, we have developed two additional therapeutic programs based on telomerase now in animal studies -- the oncolytic virus and the therapeutic vaccine therapeutic vaccine Immunology A vaccine–eg, Salk's Remune™ intended to treat a viral infection by stimulating the immune system. See Vaccine therapy. . These product opportunities in oncology are best developed through an integrated business unit dedicated to advancing our telomerase platform toward the diagnosis and treatment of human cancer." Template Antagonists Geron has developed a series of proprietary oligomers that target specific RNA RNA: see nucleic acid. RNA in full ribonucleic acid One of the two main types of nucleic acid (the other being DNA), which functions in cellular protein synthesis in all living cells and replaces DNA as the carrier of genetic sequences in the template region of telomerase. The lead compounds in this series are potent and specific telomerase inhibitors, induce cell crisis in tumor cells and effectively kill human malignant glioma glioma /gli·o·ma/ (gli-o´mah) a tumor composed of neuroglia in any of its states of development; sometimes extended to include all intrinsic neoplasms of the brain and spinal cord, as astrocytomas, ependymomas, etc. (brain cancer) cells in a mouse xenograft xenograft /xeno·graft/ (zen´o-graft) a graft of tissue transplanted between animals of different species; it may be concordant, model. Oncolytic Virus Geron and collaborators cloned the human telomerase gene in 1997. Based on this proprietary technology, the company has validated the use of the telomerase promoter (the regulatory region of the telomerase gene) to control the activity of gene-based anti-cancer therapies. Geron has demonstrated specificity of tumor killing in vivo in vivo /in vi·vo/ (ve´vo) [L.] within the living body. in vi·vo adj. Within a living organism. in vivo adv. by using a toxic gene controlled by the telomerase promoter. Tumor bearing animals treated with this approach show reduction in tumor burden tumor burden n. The total mass of tumor tissue carried by an individual with cancer. without the liver toxicity usually seen with this type of treatment. In addition, the company has engineered the telomerase promoter into an adenovirus adenovirus Any of a group of spheroidal viruses, made up of DNA wrapped in a protein coat, that cause sore throat and fever in humans, hepatitis in dogs, and several diseases in fowl, mice, cattle, pigs, and monkeys. and has demonstrated specific killing of cancer cells without harming normal tissue in tumor bearing animals. Therapeutic Vaccine The company entered into a collaboration with Merix Bioscience and Duke University in August 2000 to develop a therapeutic cancer vaccine which is scheduled to enter human clinical trials in 2001. As detailed in the September 2000 issue of Nature Medicine, the combined use of Geron's telomerase technology with the Merix dendritic cell dendritic cell n. 1. A cell that has branching processes. 2. Any of the cells in the neural crest of the embryonic ectoderm having extensive processes and developing early as producers of melanin. platform generates immune cells from cancer patients that specifically kill their own tumor cells in vitro. Furthermore, in vivo application of the combined approach was effective in reducing tumor burden in mice without harming normal tissue. Diagnostic Products The company has developed 12 research use kits now marketed worldwide through licensees including Roche Diagnostics, Pharmingen (a Becton Dickinson Company), Dako and Intergen. These kits are widely used to study telomere telomere /telo·mere/ (tel´o-mer) an extremity of a chromosome, which has specific properties, one of which is a polarity that prevents reunion with any fragment after a chromosome has been broken. and telomerase biology in cancer and other diseases. Geron has licensed Roche Diagnostics to commercialize clinical diagnostic kits for certain cancers. Roche Diagnostics is currently developing diagnostic applications for bladder cancer bladder cancer Malignant tumour of the bladder. The most significant risk factor associated with bladder cancer is smoking. Exposure to chemicals called arylamines, which are used in the leather, rubber, printing, and textiles industries, is another risk factor. and a general serum screen for malignancy. Geron's Telomerase Intellectual Property Estate "Geron has pioneered the telomerase field and accordingly, we believe we have created a dominant telomerase intellectual property estate," said David Earp J.D., Ph.D., Geron's vice president of intellectual property. "The company's telomerase patent portfolio currently includes 57 issued or allowed patents and 201 pending applications worldwide covering screening methods, reagents, and compounds that modulate telomerase activity; the cloned protein and RNA components of the telomerase enzyme and its subunits for research, diagnostic and therapeutic uses; antibodies to telomerase; the telomerase promoter; and cytotoxic cy·to·tox·ic adj. Of, relating to, or producing a toxic effect on cells. cy  to·tox·ic genes and viruses that incorporate the telomerase promoter. All of the product opportunities within our Oncology Division are protected by this intellectual property estate." Geron management will discuss this announcement today in a webcast conference call at 11:00am Eastern. The call may be accessed through StreetEvents' website at http://www.streetevents.com and click on "Individual Investor Center." The call will be archived at this site for 48 hours. Please connect to StreetEvents' website at least 15 minutes prior to the webcast conference call to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be needed to hear the webcast. Geron is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing therapeutic and diagnostic products for applications in oncology and regenerative medicine, and research tools for drug discovery. Geron's product development programs are based upon three patented core technologies: telomerase, human embryonic stem cells and nuclear transfer. For more information, visit http://www.geron.com or call 650/473-7700. |
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