FOSTER CITY, CA, USA I December 11, 2020 I Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN), a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, today announced the opening for patient screening and enrollment of the IMpactMF Phase 3 clinical trial of imetelstat, a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor, in refractory myelofibrosis (MF).
“As Geron’s second registration-enabling Phase 3 trial in hematologic myeloid malignancies, the IMpactMF trial represents a milestone for our Company,” said Aleksandra Rizo, M.D., Ph.D., Geron’s Chief Medical Officer. “The IMpactMF trial will evaluate imetelstat in a poor-prognosis refractory MF patient population to confirm the clinical benefits of extended overall survival and symptom improvement observed in our IMbark Phase 2 trial, as well as the reductions in abnormal clones and mutation burden demonstrating disease-modifying activity of imetelstat.”
Geron plans for IMpactMF to evaluate imetelstat compared to best available therapy (BAT) in approximately 320 patients with Intermediate-2 or High-risk MF. Patients eligible for the trial will be required to be non-responsive, or refractory, to treatment with a JAK inhibitor. The primary efficacy endpoint for the Phase 3 trial is overall survival (OS). Secondary endpoints include symptom response, spleen response, progression free survival, duration of response, safety, pharmacokinetics and patient reported outcomes. Geron plans to engage over 150 sites to participate in IMpactMF across North America, South America, Europe and Asia, with the majority of clinical sites expected to be open for screening and enrollment in 2021, subject to potential delays or interruptions associated with the evolving and uncertain effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To learn more about IMpactMF and whether the study is enrolling patients in your area, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.
About Myelofibrosis (MF)
Myelofibrosis, a type of myeloproliferative neoplasm, is a chronic blood cancer in which abnormal or malignant precursor cells in the bone marrow proliferate rapidly, causing scar tissue, or fibrosis, to form. People with MF may have abnormally low or high numbers of circulating red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets, and abnormally high numbers of immature cells in the blood or bone marrow. MF patients can also suffer from debilitating constitutional symptoms, such as drenching night sweats, fatigue, severe itching, or pruritus, abdominal pain, fever and bone pain.
Approximately 70% of MF patients are classified as having Intermediate-2 or High-risk disease, as defined by the Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System Plus. There are more than 35,000 patients worldwide and more than 13,000 patients in the U.S. living with Intermediate-2 or High-risk MF. The only drug therapies approved for treating these MF patients are JAK inhibitors. Currently, MF patients who fail or no longer respond to JAK inhibitor treatment have no or limited options, resulting in shortened median overall survival.
About Imetelstat
Imetelstat is a novel, first-in-class telomerase inhibitor exclusively owned by Geron and being developed in hematologic myeloid malignancies. Phase 2 clinical data strongly suggest that imetelstat has disease-modifying activity through the apoptosis of malignant stem and progenitor cells, which allows potential recovery of normal hematopoiesis. Geron is currently conducting two registration-enabling Phase 3 clinical trials of imetelstat: IMerge, a Phase 2/3 trial in lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and IMpactMF, a Phase 3 trial in refractory myelofibrosis (MF). Imetelstat has been granted Fast Track designation by the United States Food and Drug Administration for both the treatment of patients with non-del(5q) lower risk MDS who are refractory or resistant to an erythropoiesis-stimulating agent and for patients with Intermediate-2 or High-risk MF whose disease has relapsed after or is refractory to janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor treatment.
About Geron
Geron is a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and potential commercialization of a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor, imetelstat, in hematologic myeloid malignancies. For more information about Geron, visit www.geron.com.
SOURCE: Geron
Post Views: 22
FOSTER CITY, CA, USA I December 11, 2020 I Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN), a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, today announced the opening for patient screening and enrollment of the IMpactMF Phase 3 clinical trial of imetelstat, a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor, in refractory myelofibrosis (MF).
“As Geron’s second registration-enabling Phase 3 trial in hematologic myeloid malignancies, the IMpactMF trial represents a milestone for our Company,” said Aleksandra Rizo, M.D., Ph.D., Geron’s Chief Medical Officer. “The IMpactMF trial will evaluate imetelstat in a poor-prognosis refractory MF patient population to confirm the clinical benefits of extended overall survival and symptom improvement observed in our IMbark Phase 2 trial, as well as the reductions in abnormal clones and mutation burden demonstrating disease-modifying activity of imetelstat.”
Geron plans for IMpactMF to evaluate imetelstat compared to best available therapy (BAT) in approximately 320 patients with Intermediate-2 or High-risk MF. Patients eligible for the trial will be required to be non-responsive, or refractory, to treatment with a JAK inhibitor. The primary efficacy endpoint for the Phase 3 trial is overall survival (OS). Secondary endpoints include symptom response, spleen response, progression free survival, duration of response, safety, pharmacokinetics and patient reported outcomes. Geron plans to engage over 150 sites to participate in IMpactMF across North America, South America, Europe and Asia, with the majority of clinical sites expected to be open for screening and enrollment in 2021, subject to potential delays or interruptions associated with the evolving and uncertain effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To learn more about IMpactMF and whether the study is enrolling patients in your area, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.
About Myelofibrosis (MF)
Myelofibrosis, a type of myeloproliferative neoplasm, is a chronic blood cancer in which abnormal or malignant precursor cells in the bone marrow proliferate rapidly, causing scar tissue, or fibrosis, to form. People with MF may have abnormally low or high numbers of circulating red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets, and abnormally high numbers of immature cells in the blood or bone marrow. MF patients can also suffer from debilitating constitutional symptoms, such as drenching night sweats, fatigue, severe itching, or pruritus, abdominal pain, fever and bone pain.
Approximately 70% of MF patients are classified as having Intermediate-2 or High-risk disease, as defined by the Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System Plus. There are more than 35,000 patients worldwide and more than 13,000 patients in the U.S. living with Intermediate-2 or High-risk MF. The only drug therapies approved for treating these MF patients are JAK inhibitors. Currently, MF patients who fail or no longer respond to JAK inhibitor treatment have no or limited options, resulting in shortened median overall survival.
About Imetelstat
Imetelstat is a novel, first-in-class telomerase inhibitor exclusively owned by Geron and being developed in hematologic myeloid malignancies. Phase 2 clinical data strongly suggest that imetelstat has disease-modifying activity through the apoptosis of malignant stem and progenitor cells, which allows potential recovery of normal hematopoiesis. Geron is currently conducting two registration-enabling Phase 3 clinical trials of imetelstat: IMerge, a Phase 2/3 trial in lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and IMpactMF, a Phase 3 trial in refractory myelofibrosis (MF). Imetelstat has been granted Fast Track designation by the United States Food and Drug Administration for both the treatment of patients with non-del(5q) lower risk MDS who are refractory or resistant to an erythropoiesis-stimulating agent and for patients with Intermediate-2 or High-risk MF whose disease has relapsed after or is refractory to janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor treatment.
About Geron
Geron is a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and potential commercialization of a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor, imetelstat, in hematologic myeloid malignancies. For more information about Geron, visit www.geron.com.
SOURCE: Geron
Post Views: 22
