Geron Announces Discontinuation of Imetelstat Collaboration by Janssen

Geron (Nasdaq:GERN) today announced that Janssen Biotech has terminated the 2014 Collaboration and License Agreement (CLA) with the Company. Janssen stated in their press release issued today that they made this decision as the result of a strategic portfolio evaluation and prioritization of assets within their portfolio. As such, Geron has regained the global rights to develop and commercialize imetelstat, a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor.

As quoted in the press release:

“We are grateful for the collaboration with Janssen, who successfully managed two Phase 2 trials of imetelstat,” said John A. Scarlett, M.D., Geron’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We believe the clinical results from IMbark provide valuable insights into the potential future development of imetelstat for an underserved relapsed and refractory myelofibrosis patient population. We also believe the combined data of 38 patients from the initial and expansion cohorts for the target patient population from the Phase 2 portion of IMerge support further development of imetelstat, and we are therefore prioritizing the initiation of the Phase 3 portion of IMerge.”

Under the terms of the CLA, the effective date of the termination is September 28, 2018, after which the licensed rights to the imetelstat program, including intellectual property rights generated under the collaboration, return to Geron without any continuing economic obligations to Janssen, and Janssen has no further obligations to fund any of the current ongoing imetelstat clinical trials.

Transition of the imetelstat program to Geron is expected to occur over approximately 12 months with operational support from Janssen, including the orderly transfer of all ongoing clinical, regulatory, medical affairs, manufacturing and preclinical activities to Geron. In addition, Janssen is expected to supply imetelstat to Geron for up to 24 months during a transition period for clinical manufacturing.

Click here to read the full press release.