On April 26, 2023 Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN), a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, reported that data from the pivotal IMerge Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating the Company’s first-in-class telomerase inhibitor, imetelstat, in lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), was accepted for oral presentation at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting (Press release, Geron, APR 26, 2023, View Source [SID1234630522]). The data in the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) abstract will be embargoed per ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) guidelines until May 25, 2023 at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) is taking place in Chicago, IL from June 2-6, 2023.

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Details for the oral presentation are as follows:

Title: IMerge: Results from a Phase 3, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Imetelstat in Patients (pts) With Heavily Transfusion Dependent (TD) Non-Del(5q) Lower-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes (LR-MDS) Relapsed/Refractory (R/R) to Erythropoiesis Stimulating Agents (ESA).

Presenter: Amer Methqal Zeidan, Yale School of Medicine

Abstract number: 7004

Date: Friday, June 2, 2023

Session: Hematologic Malignancies—Leukemia, Myelodysplastic Syndromes, and Allotransplant

About IMerge Phase 3

The Phase 3 portion of the IMerge Phase 2/3 study is a double-blind, 2:1 randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate imetelstat in patients with IPSS Low or Intermediate-1 risk (lower risk) transfusion dependent MDS who were relapsed after, refractory to, or ineligible for, erythropoiesis stimulating agent (ESA) treatment, had not received prior treatment with either a HMA or lenalidomide and were non-del(5q). To be eligible for IMerge Phase 3, patients were required to be transfusion dependent, defined as requiring at least four units of packed red blood cells (RBCs), over an eight-week period during the 16 weeks prior to entry into the trial. The primary efficacy endpoint of IMerge Phase 3 is the rate of RBC-TI lasting at least eight weeks, defined as the proportion of patients without any RBC transfusion for at least eight consecutive weeks since entry to the trial (8-week TI). Key secondary endpoints include the rate of RBC-TI lasting at least 24 weeks (24-week TI), the duration of TI and the rate of hematologic improvement erythroid (HI-E), which is defined as a rise in hemoglobin of at least 1.5 g/dL above the pretreatment level for at least eight weeks or a reduction of at least four units of RBC transfusions over eight weeks compared with the prior RBC transfusion burden. A total of 178 patients were enrolled in IMerge Phase 3 across North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia.

About Imetelstat

Imetelstat is a novel, first-in-class telomerase inhibitor exclusively owned by Geron and being developed in hematologic malignancies. Data from non-clinical studies and clinical trials of imetelstat provide strong evidence that imetelstat targets telomerase to inhibit the uncontrolled proliferation of malignant stem and progenitor cells in myeloid hematologic malignancies resulting in malignant cell apoptosis and potential disease-modifying activity. Imetelstat has been granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for both the treatment of adult patients with transfusion dependent anemia due to Low or Intermediate-1 risk MDS that is not associated with del(5q) who are refractory or resistant to an erythropoiesis stimulating agent, and for adult patients with Intermediate-2 or High-risk MF whose disease has relapsed after or is refractory to janus associated kinase (JAK) inhibitor treatment. Geron plans to submit a New Drug Application (NDA) in the U.S. in mid-2023 and a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) in the EU in the second half of 2023 in the lower risk MDS indication.