Menlo Park, California based biotechnology penny stock Geron Corporation (GERN Stock Report) has been on the move in June. Since June 7th lows, the penny stock has gained 26%.
Geron manufactures and markets therapeutic products meant to treat cancer. Its performance this year has been particularly impressive considering the fact that the biotechnology industry has grown 2.1%. The rise in the stock this month is due, in part to the development of Imetelstat. This is the company’s sole pipeline candidate.
Imetelstat – Key Driver For This Penny Stock
Imetelstat is being examined for the potential treatment of hematologic myeloid malignancies. These are things like myelofibrosis and myelodysplastic syndromes. Earlier, the company had collaborated with Johnson and Johnson (JNJ Stock Report) but that collaboration has since ended. More importantly, the product received the status of an orphan drug for both treatments.
According to reports, the progress of imetelstat has been promising so far. Earlier in May, the company managed to transfer the rights of the medicine related to the product from Janssen. Following the transfer of ownership, Geron now has complete control over the product. This is, without a doubt, an important development.
The company gave an updated efficacy and safety data from the phase 2 portion of IMerge:
“The EHA presentation for the phase 2 portion of IMerge reported higher efficacy responses from prior reported data for both 8-week and 24-week RBC-TI rates, which highlight the meaningful and durable transfusion independence achievable with imetelstat treatment in heavily transfusion dependent lower risk MDS patients.”
Aleksandra Rizo, Geron’s Chief Medical Officer
Increased R&D Expenses
When a company has total rights over a promising product then it’s only natural for its stock price to climb. Since Geron now has the sole rights to the product, its R&D expenses could also rise.
Many of the new hires have a lot of experience according to reports. Not only in oncology but also in drug development. The company should hope that there are no hiccups in the development process since any setback might send the stock price down.
