Here's the writeup on it:
Wall Street Goes Wild As Tiny Geron Corp. Clones Key Cancer Gene
Dow Jones Online News, Friday, August 15, 1997 at 18:27
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Wall Street responded ecstatically Friday
after researchers from the University of Colorado and biotech firm Geron
Corp. said they cloned a gene that makes a protein key to the
uncontrolled growth of cancer cells.
The development, which could lead to powerful cancer drugs, more than
doubled Geron's share price, although analysts cautioned that the rise
won't last. Geron shares closed up $7.50, or 115%, at $14. Nasdaq volume
of 12.5 million shares dwarfed the daily average of just 34,000. The
Menlo Park, Calif. research concern has about 10.5 million shares
outstanding according to financial data released earlier this week.
A team led by Nobel laureate Thomas Cech at the university in Boulder
reported the new-found gene makes a protein that is an essential part of
telomerase, an enzyme that allows cancer cells to grow without
restraint. In a press release, the company said the protein is "believed
to be the long sought-after 'holy grail' of cell aging research."
"Telomerase takes one of the brakes off of cell division," said Cech.
"That's why this enzyme may be important in cancer."
He said the discovery also provides new directions for studying the
aging process, which is directly affected by the death of individual
cells.
A report on the study was published Friday in the journal Science.
Another research team, led by Dr. Robert A. Weinberg of the Whitehead
Institute for Biomedical Research, also has isolated the telomerase
gene. That work will be published next week in the journal Cell.
The telomerase enzyme blocks a process that limits the lifetime of
most cells. It does this by acting on the tips of chromosomes, a part
called the telomere.
In normal cells, the telomere shortens each time the cell divides.
Eventually, the telomere becomes so short that the cell can no longer
divide and will die. In effect, the telomere acts as a molecular clock
that controls cell aging.
Most cancer cells, however, avoid this life-shortening process by
making telomerase. The enzyme permits the telomere to maintain its
length through unlimited cell divisions, thus allowing cancer to spread
without restraint.
Cech said in an interview that the new discovery may make it possible
to find drugs that would block the action of telomerase and limit the
lifetime of cancer cells.
"This gives us a whole new thing to look for in cancer," said Cech.
"This will allow us to create telomerase inhibitors which then could be
tested for their anticancer activity."
He said telomerase is active in up to 95% of all human cancers.
In a statement released by the Whitehead Institute, Weinberg said the
telomerase discovery will enable drug companies to more rapidly test
compounds that may inhibit telomerase.
Ron Eastman, president of Geron, said drug-makers will use the
telomerase discovery to fine-tune the search for new cancer
chemotherapies.
"It's difficult to think of a better target (for drug development)
since telomerase is active in most cancers," he said.
However, Eastman said that it will take years to develop a drug that
can be tested in humans.
Cech also cautioned that whether or not a telomerase inhibitor will
work against cancer is only theoretical at this point.
"Experience has shown that many drugs that look promising in the test
tube may be very different in humans," he said.
Analysts were wary as well, saying the stock was being gobbled up by
over-exuberant retail investors.
One trader said most institutional investors knew of the gene
discovery Thursday, when the stock climbed a mere 62.5 cents, or 10.6%,
to $6.50.
The trader attributed Friday's sharp advance to "unsophisticated
investors being convinced to buy this thing."
Mehta & Isaly analyst Mike Sheffery said the delayed excitement of
investors may have resulted from the strong West Coast following of
Geron, which is based in Menlo Park, Calif., and the delay those market
players had in receiving and digesting the news.
He said the stock will fall as fast as it surged, and said he sees
the stock at $10.
Earlier this week, Geron reported that its second-quarter loss
narroed to $1.8 million or 17 cents a share, from $2.5 million or 34
cents a share a year earlier. Revenue in the quarter rose to $2.2
million from $1.6 million.
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