Tuesday, biopharmaceutical company Geron Corp. (GERN) announced that in its pre-clinical study it was found that its brain-tumour drug Imetelstat inhibited telomerase activity and reduced tumor size.
The preclinical data, published in the January 1, 2010 issue of Clinical Cancer Research journal, demonstrated that telomerase inhibitor drug Imetelstat (GRN163L), inhibited telomerase activity and reduced tumor size in xenograft models of glioblastoma, and inhibited the activity of glioblastoma stem cells in culture.
Thomas Okarma, President and CEO, Geron, said, "Blood-brain tumor barrier limits the delivery of most therapeutic drugs to brain tumors, but these data show that imetelstat penetrates that barrier. We will further investigate Imetelstat's anti-cancer stem cell potential clinically in our Phase II trials in breast and lung cancers, multiple myeloma and chronic leukemias that will begin later this year."
Geron said that Imetelstat demonstrated anti-tumor effects in a wide range of preclinical models of hematological and solid tumors. Imetelstat is a short chain oligonucleotide that binds with high affinity and specificity to the catalytic site of telomerase, resulting in competitive inhibition of enzyme activity or cell death.
Imetelstat is currently being tested in six Phase I clinical trials in patients with solid tumors, chronic lymphoproliferative disease, multiple myeloma, lung and breast cancers, as a single agent or in combination with standard treatments.
GERN is currently trading at $6.07, down $0.15 or 2.41%, on a volume of 2.33 million shares on the Nasdaq.
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