Geron reports $9.3 million second quarter net loss

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Eugene, Ore., July 31 - Geron Corp. reported a net loss of $9.3 million, or $0.14 per share, on revenues of $786,000 for the second quarter, according to a company news release.

The company reported a net loss of $3.1 million, or $0.06 per share, on revenues of $4.7 million for the same period in 2005.

The drop in revenue in 2006 was because the comparable revenues for 2005 reflect the receipt of a $4.0 million upfront payment related to the formation of a joint venture, stART Licensing, Inc., said David Greenwood, chief financial officer of Geron, during a company conference call held Monday.

Revenues for 2006 were primarily comprised of reimbursements from TA Therapeutics, the company's joint venture in Hong Kong, according to the release.

Cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents were $69.4 million on June 30, compared with $97.2 million on Dec. 21, 2005.

Research and development expenses also expanded in the second quarter, showing a 36% year-over-year increase, due to the company's increased investments related to product development and because of the cost of clinical trials, Greenwood said.

During the quarter, Geron announced results from trials of product candidates including its lead anti-cancer compound, GRN163L.

The company began phase 1/2 clinical trials to test the compound on patients with solid tumor malignancies in April, said Thomas Okarma, chief executive officer of Geron, during Monday's call.

The trial is evaluating tolerability and will enable an assessment of the pharmacokinetic profile of GRN136L. In addition, it will compliment Geron's ongoing phase 1/2 clinical trial testing the drug for treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Okarma said.

Geron announced additional results of clinical trials during the second quarter at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in April. Presentations included a preclinical study of GRN163L for lung cancer and a clinical study of its telomerase vaccine for advanced prostate cancer patient.

In addition, Geron reported new data published in Clinical Cancer Research, demonstrating the broad efficacy of GRN163L against multiple types of breast cancer cells as well as a significant reduction of metastatic activity in vivo.

While advancing its clinical trials during the second quarter, Geron also entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Corning Inc. for the development and commercialization of synthetic surface matrices for the growth of hESCs.

In another transaction, Geron licensed intellectual property related to the growth of hESCs to Invitrogen, which will use it to develop, manufacture and sell media, additives and reagents for use by hESC researchers, according to the release.

"These two out-licenses demonstrate our willingness and our ability to grant licenses to our growing portfolio of embryonic stem cell patents," said Okarma.

Geron is a biopharmaceutical company located in Menlo Park, Calif.

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