Still more:
=DJ Geron Up -2: Pdt Will Likely Hit Mkt In 2007-'08 -Analyst
26 Aug 10:39
By Jen Ryan
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Shares of Geron Corp. (GERN) jumped more than 8%
Tuesday after the company was granted a patent that regulates the use of the
human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene, or hTERT promoter, in cancer
treatment.
As a result of being granted the patent, the biopharmaceutical company will
receive an undisclosed "milestone payment" from Cell Genesys Inc. (CEGE), the
company that currently owns a non-exclusive license for the hTERT promoter,
according to a press release. The hTERT promoter will be put into a virus,
which will replicate and destroy cancer cells.
Reni Benjamin, an analyst with Rodman & Renshaw Inc., said the next step is
getting the promoter into clinical trial, adding that the company will file an
Investigational New Drug Application (IND) by the end of 2003 or the beginning
of 2004.
The product will likely be released into the market between 2007 and 2008,
when Benjamin said it will affect the company's bottom-line. For the six months
ended June 30, Geron reported a loss of $17.2 million, or 63 cents a share, on
total revenue of $547,000.
Shares of Geron recently traded at $8.04, up 64 cents, or 8.6%, on volume of
1.7 million; its average daily turnover is 1.5 million shares. The stock hit a
52-week high of $9.75 in June, rebounding from a low of $1.41 in March. |
