Is Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) breakthrough or not?

On 14 May 2020, Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) changed 6.82% to recent value of $1.41. The stock transacted 1942356 shares during most recent day however it has an average volume of 1647.53K shares. It spotted trading -22.10% off 52-week high price. On the other end, the stock has been noted 88.00% away from the low price over the last 52-weeks.

Geron Corporation (GERN), a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company developing a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor, imetelstat, to treat hematologic myeloid malignancies, recently stated financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2019 as well as 2020 milestones. The Company ended fiscal year 2019 with $159.2M in cash and marketable securities.

“2019 was a pivotal year for Geron as we completed the imetelstat program transition, assembled an impressive in-house team with a proven track record in drug development, and advanced imetelstat into late-stage development with the opening of our IMerge Phase 3 clinical trial in lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes,” stated John A. Scarlett, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “In 2020, we plan to complete enrollment in IMerge, announce our decision regarding any potential late-stage development plans for myelofibrosis by mid-year, and commence a proof of concept study in additional hematologic myeloid malignancies. With a strong team in place to execute these plans, we look forward to further advancing the development of imetelstat.”

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Results

For the fourth quarter of 2019, the Company stated a net loss of $29.1M, or $0.15 per share, contrast to $7.3M, or $0.04 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2018. Net loss for the full year of 2019 was $68.5M, or $0.36 per share, contrast to $27.0M, or $0.15 per share, for the full year of 2018.

Revenues for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2019 were $171,000 and $460,000, respectively, contrast to $375,000 and $1.1M for the same periods in 2018. Revenues for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 included royalty and license fee revenues under various non-imetelstat license contracts. The decline in revenues reflects a reduction in the number of active research license contracts in 2019 related to the Company’s human telomerase reverse transcriptase, or hTERT, technology as a result of patent expirations on the underlying technology.

Total operating expenses for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2019 were $30.2M and $73.0M, respectively, contrast to $10.0M and $32.1M for the same periods in 2018. Research and development expenses for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2019 were $24.9M and $52.1M, respectively, contrast to $5.1M and $13.4M for the same periods in 2018. The increase in research and development expenses, contrast to the same periods in 2018, primarily reflects costs for the transition of the imetelstat program, including resuming sponsorship of the ongoing imetelstat clinical trials; expenses for start-up activities for the IMerge Phase 3 clinical trial; purchase of inventories of drug product, drug substance and raw materials from Janssen; and higher personnel-related costs for the expanding development team. General and administrative expenses for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2019 were $5.3M and $20.9M, respectively, contrast to $4.9M and $18.7M for the same periods in 2018. The increase in general and administrative expenses, contrast to the same periods in 2018, primarily reflects higher corporate and patent legal costs and increased personnel-related expenses for additional general and administrative headcount to support the development organization.

Interest and other income for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2019 was $925,000 and $4.2M, respectively, contrast to $1.1M and $3.3M for the same periods in 2018. The overall increase in interest and other income in 2019 when contrast to 2018 primarily reflects higher yields on the Company’s marketable securities portfolio.

The Company ended the 2019 fiscal year with $159.2M in cash and marketable securities. The Company expects these funds to be sufficient to continue the IMerge clinical trial in 2020 and to commence a proof of concept study in 2020.

Projected 2020 Financial Guidance

For fiscal year 2020, the Company expects its operating expense burn to range from $70 to $75M, which includes costs related to the global Phase 3 IMerge clinical trial in MDS; validation of supply chain vendors for the manufacturing of imetelstat; further interactions with the FDA in connection with the planned submission of Phase 3 trial design proposals in MF and discussion regarding a potential regulatory authorization path in MF; and commencement of a proof of concept study of imetelstat.

As of December 31, 2019, the Company had 46 employees. The Company plans to grow to a total of about 55 to 60 employees by year-end 2020, of which the majority will be research and development personnel.

Its earnings per share (EPS) expected to touch remained -135.50% for this year while earning per share for the next 5-years is expected to reach at 5.00%.  The company has 194.27M of outstanding shares and 194.27M shares were floated in the market. The price moved ahead of 15.43% from the mean of 20 days, 24.91% from mean of 50 days SMA and performed 6.83% from mean of 200 days price. Company’s performance for the week was 11.02%, 18.49% for month and YTD performance remained 3.68%.

Vivian Moore

Vivian Moore – Health and Biotech I am Vivian Moore, I have done my bachelor’s in English literature, and further on I did my master’s in Medicines. My most preferred genre of writing is health and biotech. I have been writing from the past 6 years about articles, web content, and blogs. In my career and education, I like to play along with work. I have also been a teacher in the past for 2 years. I use to teach business and technical writing in a very famous university. However, most recently I am working as an instructor, designer, and training writer. I enjoy socializing a lot. I am a very big extrovert when it comes to nature. A part of all this I enjoy exploring the world and traveling makes me happy.

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