Geron Spinal Cord Treatment Produces Nerve Growth

Geron Corp. (GERN) said Wednesday its stem-cell treatment for spinal-cord injuries produced nerve growth in animal models, potentially removing a first hurdle for it to begin clinical trials in the future.

Shares of the company were recently trading up 29 cents, or 3.4%, at $8.94, on heavy early volume.

Menlo Park, Calif.-based Geron said Wednesday findings for the treatment, GRNOPC1, affirmed the company's cell-based approach to spinal-cord injury.

When injected into animal models, the therapeutic stimulated nerve growth and extension, in addition to its already reported remyelinating activity - which repairs the coating around the neurons without which nerves are unable to function.

"The multiple functions of GRNOPC1 affirm the potential therapeutic utility of our cell-based approach to the repair of spinal cord injury and provide multiple mechanisms within a single therapy to achieve functional recovery," said Thomas B. Okarma, Geron's president and chief executive officer.

Geron operates at a loss, and recently reported its third-quarter loss narrowed to $9.84 million, or 15 cents a share, from $11.9 million, or 21 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

But research advances are lending hope to doctors that spinal-cord injuries will one day be treatable.

"They are on the road to entering the clinic and this is the first step for that to proceed," said WBB Securities analyst Stephen Brozak, who had no conflicts to report.

The treatment could improve survival of the neurons, and allow formation of alternative circuitry, where they have been disrupted due to spinal-cord injury. Return of sensation would markedly improve quality of life, Brozak said.

Although stem-cell research has been inhibited by federal legislation in the U.S., shares of Geron and other companies recently received a lift after an approved constitutional amendment in the state of Missouri was passed protecting the research, and amid hopes a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives will be more amenable towards the field.

There are an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 spinal-cord injuries in the U.S. every year, and a quarter of a million Americans currently live with spinal-cord injuries, most of those being under 30 years old.