Geron Quits the Embryonic Stem Cell Industry
By Pete Shanks
| 11. 16. 2011
Geron has quit on embryonic stem cells. The company is abandoning
its world-leading clinical trial, aimed at using stem cells to treat
people paralyzed with spinal-cord injuries. It is laying off more than a third of its staff, and is writing off about $8 million. It has also repaid
the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) a loan of more
than $6 million, plus interest. Geron will continue to monitor the four
patients currently enrolled in the phase 1 clinical trial, and says it
is looking for another company to take it over.
The decision to terminate the trial seems to be all business, a
departure from past practices that seemed motivated more by hype and
wishful thinking. Geron's stock has been plummeting (down from $6.34 to $1.60
over the year), and new management is conducting triage. The ESC trial
is only in phase 1, a safety trial, in which severely injured patients
receive low doses of treatments that are frankly unlikely to do much
good; the point is to ensure that they do no harm. Results from that...
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