Geron Provides COVID-19 Related Business Update

MENLO PARK, Calif., April 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN), a late-stage clinical development biopharmaceutical company, today announced an update to information from its March 12 year-end conference call related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business, and described the measures being taken to protect the safety of Geron’s employees and patients in its clinical trials.

“We remain committed to advancing our imetelstat development plans, but recognize the unprecedented challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said John A. Scarlett, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Like many other drug development companies, our clinical trial activities are being impacted in countries where healthcare systems are severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to these circumstances, we no longer expect to complete enrollment in the IMerge Phase 3 trial or to commence our proof of concept study in high risk MDS and AML by the end of 2020, as we had originally planned. Given the fluid and rapidly evolving consequences of COVID-19, we cannot predict the long-term effect on IMerge timelines until we have more visibility on the length of the crisis and its impact on our IMerge clinical trial activities. We continue to monitor this situation and will provide an update on our next quarterly conference call.”

Geron’s Chief Financial Officer, Olivia Bloom added, “To actively conserve our financial resources during these uncertain times, we have implemented measures to manage our near-term cash burn, and expect our spending in 2020 will be lower than the $70 to $75 million we previously guided. We plan to update our 2020 spending guidance, to the extent practicable, on our next quarterly conference call.”

Geron Business Updates

Ongoing Operations

The Company has taken steps to ensure the safety and well-being of its employees. In compliance with local ‘stay at home’ measures and to limit the risk of exposure to and transmission of COVID-19, Geron has suspended all business travel and implemented a work from home policy for all employees. To enable business to continue virtually, Geron has made technology resources available to all employees.

IMerge Phase 3 Clinical Trial

Geron is planning to open more than 90 sites globally for the IMerge Phase 3 clinical trial. As of the end of March, 66% of the total sites were open in the United States, Europe, Middle East and Asia. Geron has provided guidance to IMerge investigators regarding COVID-19 intended to ensure the safety of patients while preserving the integrity of the trial.