Geron commences enrollment in imetelstat Phase 2 clinical trial for NSCLC

Geron Corporation (Nasdaq:GERN) today announced enrollment of the first patient in a randomized Phase 2 clinical trial of its telomerase inhibitor drug, imetelstat (GRN163L), as maintenance therapy following platinum-based induction therapy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

"Initiating our first randomized Phase 2 clinical trial of imetelstat is a major milestone for Geron's Oncology program," said Stephen M. Kelsey, M.D., Geron's executive vice president and chief medical officer, oncology. "We are now poised to apply what we learned clinically from our Phase 1 program as well as leverage recent preclinical results showing imetelstat's activity against a broad range of cancer stem cell types, including those from NSCLC."

"We are excited to be involved in the Phase 2 trial of imetelstat," said Joan H. Schiller, M.D., chief, division of hematology and oncology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and lead investigator for the trial. "Maintenance therapy with a telomerase inhibitor is an attractive approach to potentially reduce the cancer stem cell population after initial debulking of the tumor by chemotherapy. We look forward to assessing imetelstat in this setting."