Interim data from Geron's GRNVAC1 phase II trial for AML presented

Geron Corporation (Nasdaq:GERN) today announced the presentation of interim data from its phase II trial of GRNVAC1, an autologous dendritic cell vaccine targeting telomerase, in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) at the 51^st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The multicenter, open-label trial is designed to evaluate the feasibility of GRNVAC1 manufacture and the safety and tolerability of the vaccination regimen in patients with AML who are in complete clinical remission. Additional objectives of the study are to evaluate the immune responses to GRNVAC1 and to explore the effects of vaccination on minimal residual disease and relapse rates in this patient population.

“First, we are pleased to have met our endpoints of safety and tolerability,” said Stephen M. Kelsey, M.D., Geron's executive vice president and chief medical officer, oncology. “At this point in the study a number of high risk patients have entered the extended boost phase of the vaccination regimen. These patients have been in remission for a period ranging from four months to nearly two years. Our analyses of minimal residual disease by qPCR of WT-1 are also very encouraging with one patient whose WT-1 levels became undetectable following vaccination.”