Geron's GRNOPC1 Phase 1 trial results on spinal cord injury presented at international conferences

Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN) today announced two presentations on the company's ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of the human embryonic stem cell-based therapy, GRNOPC1, in patients with spinal cord injury. Data on the first two patients were presented at the 2011 International Conference on Spinal Cord Medicine and Rehabilitation in Washington, D.C. A second presentation was given at the 2011 Spine Symposium, which was held as part of The American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Annual Scientific Meeting. The presentations were given by Edward Wirth, III, M.D., Ph.D., Geron's Medical Director for Cell Therapies and Linda Jones, P.T., M.S., Geron's Senior Clinical Trials Manager for GRNOPC1.

"We are pleased to report a very good safety profile of GRNOPC1 to date, with no serious adverse events," said Dr. Wirth. "Currently, we have two patients in the trial. We anticipate increased enrollment going forward as we open our additional clinical sites and following FDA approval to expand our inclusion criteria to patients with injuries resulting in a neurological level of T11, which represents a substantial percentage of thoracic injuries, and to reduce the stagger between patients from 30 days to 10 days."