Geron: Data shows TAT0002 enhances function of key immune cells in HIV/AIDS patients

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Aug. 21 - Geron Corp. said Monday that new data confirms and extends earlier findings that TAT0002, a small molecule telomerase activator for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, enhances the function of key immune cells.

The results, which support further development of the drug candidate, show that TAT0002 stimulates RANTES, MIP1-alpha and MIP1-beta, molecules that attract other immune cells to assist in the antiviral response, according to a company news release.

As in previous functional studies, the activity of TAT0002 was blocked by co-treatment with a potent and specific telomerase inhibitor, suggesting that TAT0002 works through telomerase activation, officials said.

TAT0002 was previously shown to stimulate the production of IFN-gamma, a molecule involved in the antiviral response of cytotoxic CD8 T-cells specific for the HIV-1 AIDS virus. It also enhanced the ability of the CD8 cells to proliferate and kill HIV-1-infected CD4 cells, officials said.

The data was presented Monday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto.

The company also presented data showing that TAT0002 is orally bioavailable in animals. These studies, in conjunction with pilot toxicology results, suggest that therapeutic blood levels of TAT0002 can be achieved with safe, oral doses of TAT0002.

The new studies demonstrate the company's orally available telomerase activator drug broadly reactivates anti-HIV immunity in AIDS patients' lymphocytes, officials said.

"The lymphocytes are the primary mechanism for containing HIV infection early in the course of the disease. Over time, telomere loss in these cells results in the gradual decline of their anti-HIV function, leading to clinical disease progression," Thomas Okarma, Geron's president and chief executive officer, said in the release.

TAT0002 is being developed at TA Therapeutics Ltd., a joint venture between Geron and the Biotechnology Research Corp., a company established by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Geron is a Menlo Park, Calif.-based biopharmaceutical company.

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