Geron Announces Publication of IMbark Phase 2 Data in Journal of Clinical Oncology

Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN), a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, today announced the publication of data from the IMbark Phase 2 clinical trial in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in a paper entitled, “Randomized, Single-Blind, Multicenter Phase II Study of Two Doses of Imetelstat in Relapsed or Refractory Myelofibrosis.” The publication highlights the clinical benefits observed in the study, including symptom response and overall survival, as well as the evidence of disease-modifying activity from biomarker and bone marrow fibrosis assessments.

“We are pleased with the publication of our IMbark Phase 2 data in the high-impact Journal of Clinical Oncology. This highlights the importance of the study data in the advancement of treatment options for MF patients who no longer respond to currently approved JAKi therapies,” said Aleksandra Rizo, M.D., Ph.D., Geron’s Chief Medical Officer. “Imetelstat is a novel telomerase inhibition approach that may alter the course of the disease in patients with myelofibrosis. We look forward to confirming these results in our ongoing IMpactMF Phase 3 clinical trial in refractory MF.”

The publication reports efficacy, safety and biomarker results from the IMbark Phase 2 clinical trial and is available online. As stated in the paper, IMbark tested two imetelstat doses and the 9.4 mg/kg dose every three weeks demonstrated clinical benefits in symptom response rate, with an acceptable safety profile for this poor-risk JAKi relapsed/refractory MF patient population. Biomarker and bone marrow assessments suggested selective effects on the malignant clone.

“In these heavily pre-treated patients with high disease burden whose outcome is dismal, imetelstat treatment resulted in multiple clinical meaningful benefits, including symptom response and potential improvement in overall survival,” said John Mascarenhas, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and lead author of the paper. “In addition, the reductions in key driver mutations of the disease that were also correlated to clinical benefits suggest disease-modifying activity of imetelstat by targeting the underlying MF malignant clones, which differentiates imetelstat from other therapeutic agents currently in development for MF.”