A Chronology Of Geron's Imetelstat

Shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) were trading at $2.08 Wednesday morning and are within two cents of its 52-week low of $2.06.

Investors punished the stock on Monday after the bio-pharmaceutical company announced an update from a clinical trial involving Imetelstat, a potent and specific inhibitor of telomerase that is administered by intravenous infusion.

The clinical trial was conducted by its partner, Janssen Biotech, and concluded that the study did not warrant any further investigation. The 4.7 mg/kg dose will now be closed to new patient enrollment.

Related Link: Exclusive: Dr. Ron Farkas, Eteplirsen's Harshest Critic, Has Left The FDA

Imetelstat has been in a clinical trial for years. For instance, analysts at Piper Jaffray upgraded Geron to Overweight from Neutral in August 2013 due to a favorable risk to reward profile for Imetelstat.

Here is a timeline of some of the more recent events involving Imetelstat over the past year:

• September 16, 2015: Geron began a Phase 2 clinical trial of Imetelstat.
• January 14, 2016: Geron confirmed the dosing of first patients in a Phase 2/3 clinical trial involving Imetelstat.
• April 20, 2016: Geron announced two poster presentations of data from Imetelstat which provided further evidence of its effectiveness.
• July 13, 2016: Geron announced it has been issued three U.S. patents related to Imetelstat.
• August 19, 2016: Analysts at BTIG estimated Imetelstat sales could reach $700 million by 2023.

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