Our history
For more than 30 years, we’ve tirelessly dedicated ourselves to the pursuit of new therapies for patients with blood cancers. The belief in the potential of a novel therapeutic approach targeting and inhibiting telomerase started our journey.
We are exploring the broad potential of telomerase inhibition across multiple hematologic malignancies and are the only company advancing and commercializing this technology as a treatment for patients with blood cancer.
Following Nobel Prize-winning research by our early collaborators who discovered how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase, we are the first company to commercialize a telomerase inhibitor.
Today, our medicine is commercially available for the treatment of patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) with transfusion-dependent anemia. We are exploring telomerase inhibition in other conditions where patients urgently need new treatment options.
Telomerase inhibition
Building on decades of research and discovery, the groundbreaking science of telomerase inhibition now has the potential to bring clinically meaningful benefits to eligible patients with lower-risk MDS.
Herman Muller coined the name ‘telomeres’ for the natural ends of chromosomes, derived from the Greek words telos (‘end’) and meros (‘part’).i
Leonard Hayflick, after demonstrating that normal human fibroblasts can replicate only a finite number of times before losing the ability to divide and grow ii, showed that cancer cells can replicate indefinitely, making them immortal.iii
James Watson and Alexei Olovnikov independently observed that the ends of chromosomes cannot be replicated during cell duplication. As a result, chromosomes shorten each time a cell doubles, eventually leading to cell death. Both Watson and Olovnikov theorized that cells must possess a mechanism for maintaining telomeres during DNA replication.iv,v
Elizabeth Blackburn discovers that telomeres have a specific structure of DNA.vi
Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak showed that the unique DNA of telomeres protects cells from degradation during cell doubling.vi
Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider discover telomerase, the enzyme producing the DNA of telomeres.vi
Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider illuminate how telomerase uses a specific RNA template to cause the addition of telomeric repeats to DNA via a reverse transcriptase mechanism.vii
Geron is founded by Mike West, a pioneer in stem cell, cellular aging and telomerase research, and Alex Barkas, a venture capitalist who at the time was a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Geron collaborators Jerry Shay and Woodring “Woody” Wright discover telomerase is present in 90% of primary human cancers.viii
Geron becomes a public company, with scientific advisors including Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, Leonard Hayflick and James Watson, among others.
Geron scientists are the first to clone the genes for RNA and protein components of telomerase.ix,x
Geron develops oligonucleotides that bind to the RNA template of telomerase and competitively inhibit telomerase activity.xi
Geron creates imetelstat by using lipid modification to enhance the potency of telomerase inhibition.xii
Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak win the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.xiii
Two papers are published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrating imetelstat’s potential in two hematologic myeloid malignancies.xiv
The first patient is enrolled in Geron’s IMerge Phase 3 trial of imetelstat in lower-risk MDS.xvi
Data from the IMerge Phase 2 trial of imetelstat in lower-risk MDS is published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.xvii
Data from the IMbark Phase 2 trial of imetelstat in relapsed/refractory myelofibrosis (MF) is published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.xviii
The first patient is enrolled in Geron’s ImpactMF Phase 3 trial evaluating overall survival with imetelstat treatment in JAKi relapsed/refractory MF.xix
The first patient is enrolled in Geron’s ImproveMF Phase 1 trial of imetelstat in combination with ruxolitinib in frontline MF.xx
Geron announces positive top-line results from the IMerge Phase 3 trial of imetelstat in lower-risk MDS.
The FDA accepts Geron’s New Drug Application (NDA) for imetelstat for the treatment of transfusion-dependent anemia in patients with lower-risk MDS.xxi
Geron announces FDA approval of RYTELO™ (imetelstat), a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor for the treatment of adults with lower-risk MDS with transfusion-dependent anemia.xxii
Geron Announces European Commission Approval of RYTELO® (imetelstat), a First-in-Class Telomerase Inhibitor, for the Treatment of Adults with Transfusion-Dependent Anemia due to Lower-Risk MDS.xxiii
Our culture
At Geron, our innovative and collaborative culture has been the foundation of our commitment to advancing telomerase inhibition as a treatment with the potential to change lives for the better by changing the course of blood cancers.
Our leadership team
With a seasoned leadership team with world-class expertise spanning research, clinical development, regulatory, manufacturing and commercial experience in hematologic malignancies, Geron is prepared to deliver on our mission to change lives for the better by changing the course of blood cancers.
References
i Muller HJ. The remaking of chromosomes. Collecting Net 13, 181-198 (1938)
ii Hayflick L, Moorhead PS. The serial cultivation of human diploid cell strains. Exp Cell Res 25, 585-621 (1961)
iii Hayflick L. The limited in vitro lifetime of human diploid cell strains Exp Cell Res 37, 614-636 (1965)
iv Watson JD. Origin of concatemeric T4 DNA. Nature New Bio 41, 181-190 (1973)
v Olovnikov AM. A theory of maginotomy. The incomplete copying of template margin in enzymatic synthesis of polynucleotides and biological significance of the phenomenon. J Theor Biol 41, 181-90 (1973)
vi Elizabeth H. Blackburn Facts. The Nobel Prize. Elizabeth H. Blackburn – Facts (nobelprize.org). Accessed November 3, 2022.
vii Greider CW, Blackburn EH. A telomeric sequence in the RNA of Tetrahymena telomerase required for telomere repeat synthesis. Nature 337, 331-337 (1989)
viii Kim NW, Piatyszek MA, Prowse KR, Harley CB, West MD, Ho PO, Coviello GM, Wright WE, Weinrich SL, Shay JW. Specific association of human telomerase activity with immortal cells and cancer. Science 266, 2011-2015 (1994)
ix Nakamura TM, Morin GB, Chapman KB, Weinrich SL, Andrews WH, Lingner J, Harley CB, Cech TR. Telomerase catalytic subunit homologs from fission yeast and human. Science 277, 955-9 (1997)
x Weinrich SL, Pruzan R, Ma L, Ouellette M, Tesmer VM, Holt SE, Bodnar AG, Lichtsteiner S, Kim NW, Trager JB, Taylor RD, Carlos R, Andrews WH, Wright WE, Shay JW, Harley CB, Morin GB. Reconstitution of human telomerase with the template RNA component hTR and the catalytic protein subunit hTRT. Nat Genet 17, 498-502 (1997)
xi Asai A, Oshima Y, Yamamoto Y, Uochi TA, Kusaka H, Akinaga S, Yamashita Y, Pongracz K, Pruzan R, Wunder E, Piatyszek M, Li S, Chin AC, Harley CB, Gryaznov S. A novel telomerase template antagonist (GRN163) as a potential anticancer agent. Cancer Res 63, 3931-3939 (2003)
xii Herbert BS, Gellert GC, Hochreiter A, Pongracz K, Wright WE, Zielinska D, Chin AC, Harley CB, Shay JW, Gryaznov SM. Lipid modification of GRN163, an N3’-P5′ thio-phosphoramidate oligonucleotide, enhances the potency of telomerase inhibition. Oncogene 24, 5262-5268 (2005)
xiii The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009. The Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009. Accessed November 3, 2022.
xiv Dual Publications in the New England Journal of Medicine Highlight Transformative Potential of Imetelstat in Hematologic Myeloid Malignancies. Geron.com. Geron Corporation – Dual Publications in the New England Journal of Medicine Highlight Transformative Potential of Imetelstat in Hematologic Myeloid Malignancies. Accessed November 3, 2022.
xv Study to Evaluate Imetelstat (GRN163L) in Subjects with International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) Low or Intermediate-1 Risk Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). ClinicalTrials.gov. Study to Evaluate Imetelstat (GRN163L) in Subjects With International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) Low or Intermediate-1 Risk Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) – Full Text View – ClinicalTrials.gov. Accessed November 3, 2022.
xvi Geron Announces First Patient Dosed in IMerge Phase 3 Clinical Trial in Lower Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes. Geron.com. Geron Corporation – Geron Announces First Patient Dosed in IMerge Phase 3 Clinical Trial in Lower Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes. Accessed November 3, 2022.
xvii Imetelstat Achieves Meaningful and Durable Transfusion Independence in High Transfusion-Burden Patients With Lower-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes in a Phase II Study. Steensma, et al., Journal of Clinical Oncology 2020.
xviii IMbark Phase 2: Randomized, Single-Blind, Multicenter Phase II Study of Two Doses of Imetelstat in Relapsed or Refractory Myelofibrosis. Mascarenhas, et al., Journal of Clinical Oncology 2021.
xix A Study Comparing Imetelstat Versus Best Available Therapy for the Treatment of Intermediate-2 or High-risk Myelofibrosis (MF) Who Have Not Responded to Janus Kinase (JAK)-Inhibitor Treatment. ClinicalTrials.gov. A Study Comparing Imetelstat Versus Best Available Therapy for the Treatment of Intermediate-2 or High-risk Myelofibrosis (MF) Who Have Not Responded to Janus Kinase (JAK)-Inhibitor Treatment – Full Text View – ClinicalTrials.gov. Accessed November 3, 2022.
xx Geron Announces First Patient Dosed in ImproveMF Phase 1 Combination Study in Frontline Myelofibrosis. Geron.com. Geron Corporation – Geron Announces First Patient Dosed in IMproveMF Phase 1 Combination Study in Frontline Myelofibrosis. Accessed November 3, 2022.
xxi Geron Announces FDA Acceptance of New Drug Application for Imetelstat for the Treatment of Lower Risk MDS. Geron.com. Geron Corporation – Geron Announces FDA Acceptance of New Drug Application for Imetelstat for the Treatment of Lower Risk MDS. Accessed August 21, 2023.
xxii Geron Announces FDA Approval of RYTELO™ (imetelstat), a First-in-Class Telomerase Inhibitor, for the Treatment of Adult Patients with Lower-Risk MDS with Transfusion-Dependent Anemia. Geron Corporation – Geron Announces FDA Approval of RYTELO™ (imetelstat), a First-in-Class Telomerase Inhibitor, for the Treatment of Adult Patients with Lower-Risk MDS with Transfusion-Dependent Anemia. Accessed June 6, 2024.
xxiii Geron Announces European Commission Approval of RYTELO® (imetelstat), a First-in-Class Telomerase Inhibitor, for the Treatment of Adults with Transfusion-Dependent Anemia due to Lower-Risk MDS. Geron Corporation – Geron Announces European Commission Approval of RYTELO® (imetelstat), a First-in-Class Telomerase Inhibitor, for the Treatment of Adults with Transfusion-Dependent Anemia due to Lower-Risk MDS. Accessed March 5, 2025.