Geron is a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and potential commercialization of our first-in-class telomerase inhibitor, imetelstat, in hematologic myeloid malignancies. Early clinical data suggest imetelstat may have disease-modifying activity through the suppression of malignant progenitor cell clone proliferation, which allows potential recovery of normal hematopoiesis.
Telomerase is an enzyme that enables cancer cells, including malignant progenitor cells, to maintain telomere length, which provides them with the capacity for limitless, uncontrolled proliferation. Using Geronâs proprietary nucleic acid chemistry, imetelstat was designed as an oligonucleotide that targets and binds with high affinity to the active site of telomerase, thereby directly inhibiting telomerase activity and impeding malignant cell proliferation. Ongoing clinical studies of imetelstat consist of IMergeâ˘, a Phase 2/3 trial in lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and IMbarkâ˘, a Phase 2 trial in Intermediate-2 or High-risk myelofibrosis.
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