Geron commences enrollment in imetelstat Phase 2 clinical trial for metastatic breast cancer

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), in combination with paclitaxel (with or without bevacizumab) in patients with locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer.

“The Phase 1 trial of imetelstat combined with paclitaxel and bevacizumab in locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer showed an encouraging preliminary response rate, particularly in context of the reduced doses of chemotherapy that were administered during treatment cycles.”

"We are pleased to initiate our second randomized Phase 2 clinical trial of imetelstat," said Stephen M. Kelsey, M.D., Geron's executive vice president and chief medical officer, oncology. "We are applying what we learned in our Phase 1 program and leveraging our preclinical data that showed imetelstat's activity against cancer stem cells from a broad range of tumor types, including breast cancer."

"We look forward to assessing imetelstat in this Phase 2 clinical trial in breast cancer," said Kathy D. Miller, M.D., Associate Professor and Sheila D. Ward Scholar at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center and lead investigator of the trial. "The Phase 1 trial of imetelstat combined with paclitaxel and bevacizumab in locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer showed an encouraging preliminary response rate, particularly in context of the reduced doses of chemotherapy that were administered during treatment cycles."