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12:31 10May2004 BSW-Geron and ATCC Announce Telomerase Licensing Agreement <GERN.O>
Geron and ATCC Announce Telomerase
Licensing Agreement
MENLO PARK, Calif. & MANASSAS, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10,
2004--Geron Corporation (Nasdaq:GERN) and American Type Culture
Collection today announced that Geron has granted to ATCC a
non-exclusive license to create and distribute cell lines immortalized
with human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), and the hTERT
gene itself, to the research-use-only market.
Telomerase is an enzyme that maintains telomere length and allows
cells to divide indefinitely while retaining normal function and
phenotype. Telomerase-immortalized human cells provide stable, uniform
cell populations for functional cell-based assays and long-term gene
expression studies. These cell lines can undergo repeated rounds of
genetic engineering and scale-up, enhancing their potential utility in
biological studies, cell-based drug screens, and drug toxicity
testing, as well as cell and gene therapy applications.
The license to ATCC excludes therapeutic or diagnostic use of
hTERT, use in human clinical research, and certain other uses that
would compete or conflict with Geron's product development programs.
Under the agreement, Geron will receive a license fee payment in cash
as well as royalties on future product sales. Other specific financial
terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Geron has also designated ATCC as ex-situ repository and
distributor of Geron-created immortalized cell lines and hTERT
plasmids to non-profit institutions worldwide.
"Telomerase is a very important tool in biopharmaceutical
research," said Calvin B. Harley, Ph.D., Geron's chief scientific
officer. "There has been a consistent demand among researchers for
hTERT-immortalized cell lines, which can proliferate indefinitely
while maintaining normal physical and biological characteristics. Many
repeated or long-term studies cannot readily be done with mortal cells
or with cells transformed in ways that change their morphology or
function, but can be done with hTERT-immortalized cells."
"Because Geron is focused on its therapeutic and diagnostic
product development programs, we have not been able to meet this
demand the way ATCC can," added David L. Greenwood, Geron's executive
vice president and chief financial officer. "As the leading global
bioresource center, ATCC is an ideal partner for the standardization
and distribution of hTERT plasmids and immortalized cell lines."
Dr. Raymond H. Cypess, president and CEO of ATCC, said, "ATCC
continues to play an essential role in the technology transfer
process. This partnership is a mechanism by which ATCC will make
available important research tools and models to the scientific
community, while protecting intellectual property rights and promoting
commercialization. In addition, ATCC will use the hTERT technology to
develop new reference tools and models in support of scientific
discovery and development processes across a wide variety of
disciplines."
Geron's telomerase platform is supported by a broad intellectual
property portfolio of more than 150 issued patents and over 90 pending
applications worldwide. Issued U.S. patents include claims covering
the cloned genes that encode the RNA component (hTR) and the catalytic
protein component (hTERT) of human telomerase, as well as cells that
are immortalized by expression of recombinant hTERT.
Geron is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and
commercializing therapeutic and diagnostic products for cancer based
on its telomerase technology, and cell-based therapeutics using its
human embryonic stem cell technology.
ATCC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the acquisition,
authentication, preservation, development, and distribution of
biological reference materials and related information, technology,
and standards for the advancement, validation and application of
scientific knowledge.
This news release may contain forward-looking statements
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