Geron Corporation is a biotechnology company founded by Dr. Michael West based in Menlo Park, California. The company was incorporated in 1990 and began doing business in 1992. Geron Corporation focuses on creating drugs based on telomere and stem cell research.

Geron is traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol GERN. The current chief executive officer is Dr. Thomas B. Okarma, M.D., Ph.D. It was included in the SCCC Index, a 15 stock index of companies important "to the field of stem cell, cloning, and cell transplantation research and medicine" when that index was created in 2003 and as of July 2006 comprises 18.42% of the index.

The company specializes in developing and commercialization of products in three specific areas: 1) therapeutic products for cancer that target telomerase; 2) pharmaceuticals that activate telomerase in tissues impacted by cell aging, injury or degenerative diseases; and 3) cell-based therapies derived from human embryonic stem cells for treatment of various chronic diseases.

Currently, Geron Corporation has two anti-cancer products in clinical trials. The first, called GRN163L, is a drug that targets telomerase and has been shown to be effective in treating various cancers in animals. It is beginning human trials and testing in patients with lymphocytic leukemia. Also in trials at Duke University is GRNVAC1, a telomerase vaccine being used on patients with prostate cancer. With the vaccine, Geron plans to inject telomerase into the patient with metastatic prostate cancer to induce the body to produce a more aggressive immune response to the cancer. This vaccine has also produced significant initial results. Geron's progress with these telomerase drugs has been significant enough to have elicited a significant monetary investment in 2005 from Merck, one of the largest of the world's drug companies.

Since it was organized in 1990 Geron has been granted over 200 patents.

External links

• Corporate web site
• SCCC Index of stem cell, cloning, and cell therapy stocks. Geron is a component of the SCCC Index.

Companies in the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index | Biotechnology companies

Companies based in the Silicon Valley

Geron Corporation