Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[gloe]

GERN - here's part of the article:

In Hyping Cancer Vaccine, Geron Ignores Its Partner
By Adam Feuerstein
Senior Writer

12/11/2003 01:49 PM EST
URL: http://www.thestreet.com/p/rmoney/adamfeuerstein/10131516.html

"Geron (GERN:Nasdaq) CEO Tom Okarma says it's entirely appropriate for his company to claim ownership of its telomerase cancer vaccine for prostate cancer. But Okarma also acknowledges that Geron might not own the experimental product for much longer, raising questions about how the company has promoted the drug and profited from its potential.

In an exclusive interview Wednesday, Okarma insisted the vaccine -- known colloquially as TVAX and currently in a phase I clinical trial -- is a genuine Geron pipeline product, and investors should treat it as such.

But Okarma did not dispute a story here last month that reported Geron could lose control of TVAX if its partner Merix Bioscience decides to exercise a first-rights option to take over development of the vaccine and advance it beyond phase II studies. (Executives at Merix, a small, privately held biotech firm based in Durham, N.C., declined to comment for this story.)

This means that if TVAX pans out, there's a possibility that it becomes Merix's drug to market and sell, leaving Geron with only a small slice of the proceeds. With a market cap already approaching $400 million, Geron can't afford to lose control of TVAX, especially because it is the biotech firm's only product in human clinical trials."