biology

Geron Corporation

Geron Corporation is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Geron Corporation rather than just read about it. In short: Geron Corporation is a biotechnology company located in Foster City, California which specializes in developing and commercializing therapeutic products for cancer that inhibit telomerase. Company information Geron, based in Foster City, California, was founded by gerontologist Mary C.

Key takeaways

Geron Corporation belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Geron Corporation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Geron Corporation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Geron Corporation is a biotechnology company located in Foster City, California which specializes in developing and commercializing therapeutic products for cancer that inhibit telomerase.

Company information Geron, based in Foster City, California, was founded by gerontologist Mary C. West and Michael D. West, now CEO of AgeX Therapeutics. They secured initial venture capital investments in the company from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Venrock. The company was incorporated in 1990 and began doing business in 1992. John A. Scarlett was appointed CEO in 2011. The company's Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board has included Nobel laureates James Watson, Gunter Blobel, and Carol Greider, and Leonard Hayflick, known for discovering that human cells divide for a limited number of times in vitro (called the Hayflick limit). In 2017, Geron staff received the highest median pay in California, at $500,250.

Drug candidates

Cancer therapies Geron Corporation has sponsored human clinical trials of several potential anti-cancer products.

Imetelstat (GRN163L) is a drug that targets telomerase. In studies conducted at Johns Hopkins University, GRN163L was active against both CD138+ and CD138neg cancer stem cells and eliminated the colony forming potential of both by five weeks. Similarly, GRN163L inhibited the in vitro clonogenic growth of CD138neg Multiple Myeloma Cancer Stem Cells isolated from the bone marrow aspirates of patients with multiple myeloma. On November 3, 2014, the FDA removed the full clinical hold on imetelstat and declared the company's clinical development plan as acceptable. In 2014, Geron licensed imetelstat to Janssen Biotech. In 2017, imetelstat was granted fast track status by the FDA for certain patients with myelodysplastic syndrome. In 2018, Janssen Biotech returned the rights to imetelstat to Geron. Imetelstat is currently in two Phase 3 trials: NCT02598661, a study of the drug's ability to reduce the transfusion requirements of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and NCT04576156, an investigation of the drug's effect on the overall survival of patients with myelofibrosis. A trial of GRNVAC1, a telomerase vaccine being used on patients with prostate cancer was carried out at Duke University. Geron's progress with telomerase vaccines attracted a modest monetary investment in 2005 from Merck. GRN1005, an LRP-directed conjugate of paclitaxel, was in phase II clinical trials for brain cancer but discontinued based on preliminary results in 2012.

Telomerase activation In addition to testing drug candidates that exploit cancer cell's dependence on telomerase, Geron is researching the possible applications of activating the enzyme in normal cells to delay cellular senescence. The company is in the early stages of developing a telomerase based treatment for HIV called TAT0002, which is the saponin cycloastragenol in Chinese herb Astragalus propinquus. Geron has granted a license to Telomerase Activation Sciences to sell TA-65, the telomerase activator agent also derived from astragalus. In October 2010 Intertek/AAC Labs, an ISO 17025 internationally recognized lab, found the largest component of TA-65 to be cycloastragenol. Geron originally investigated telomerase as a means of understanding and modifying human aging. However, Geron has ceased aging research of any kind.

Stem cell therapies On January 23, 2009, Geron received FDA approval to begin Phase I testing of GRNOPC1 in humans. GRNOPC1 is an embryonic stem cell based drug that is designed to treat specific forms of spinal cord injury through remyelination of damaged axons. This trial does not involve direct use of stem cells however, as GRNOPC1 is composed of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells derived from embryonic stem cell lines. Studies have shown significant restoration of mobility in animals with spinal injuries that received cells. Geron also has several other embryonic stem cell treatments that are still in the preclinical phase, including GRNCM1, a treatment for heart disease, and GRNIC1, a treatment for diabetes. In tests with diabetic mice, 80% of the mice given GRNIC1 were still alive in 50 days while the entire control group, which was given no treatment, perished. Geron sold its human stem cell research assets to Asterias in 2013.

GRNOPC1

As of October 2010 and November 2010, one of Geron's most highly publicized trial therapy products has been GRNOPC1, a stem cell therapy designed to heal severe spinal cord injuries. The cells in the GRNOPC1 therapy have been coaxed into becoming early myelinated glial cells, a type of cell that insulates nerve cells. For every GRNOPC1 cell that is injected in the patient, they become six to ten cells in a few months. In October 2011 updated results on four patients were released. The trial was discontinued in Nov 2011. In early 2013 BioTime, whose CEO at the time was Geron founder Michael D. West, acquired 400 patents and other intellectual property related to embryonic stem cells from Geron and later went on to restart the trial.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Geron Corporation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Geron Corporation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Geron Corporation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Geron Corporation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Geron Corporation

In research: Geron Corporation appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Geron Corporation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Geron Corporation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1990 establishments in California, Biotechnology companies established in 1990, Biotechnology companies of the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Geron Corporation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Geron Corporation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Geron Corporation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Geron Corporation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Geron Corporation in simple terms?

Geron Corporation is a biotechnology company located in Foster City, California which specializes in developing and commercializing therapeutic products for cancer that inhibit telomerase. Company information Geron, based in Foster City, California, was founded by gerontologist Mary C.

Why does Geron Corporation matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Geron Corporation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Geron Corporation.