<div id="subtitle">Geron reports anticancer activity in preclinical study on developing drug imetelstat</div><div><p>Biotechnology company Geron Corp. said Tuesday its developing stem-cell technology inhibited tumor activity and reduced tumor size in a laboratory study focusing on the most common form of brain cancer.</p><p>The company, citing a study authored by collaborators at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said its drug candidate imetelstat specifically inhibited the activity of the brain cancer, glioblastoma.</p><p>In the study, tumors were implanted into mice and imetelstat inhibited 60 percent to 70 percent of the tumors in up to five days.</p><p>Geron said the data is being published in the Jan. 1, 2010 issue of Clinical Cancer Research. Imetelstat is currently in six Phase I clinical studies, including breast and lung cancer. The company said it plans to move the drug candidate into several Phase II clinical trials later in 2010.</p><p>Geron has been developing stem cell-based therapies for about a decade. In January of 2009, it became the first company to receive Food and Drug Administration approval to conduct early-stage clinical trials on a stem-cell based therapy, aimed at treating severe spinal cord injuries. In August the company said a human clinical trial of that embryonic stem cell product, called GRNOPC1, would be delayed because some of the animals treated with the injection developed microscopic spinal cysts.</p><p>Shares of Geron fell 25 cents, or 4 percent, to $5.97 in morning trading. The stock has traded between $3.67 and $9.24 over the last 52 weeks.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=66294056&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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