CAMBREX TO MANUFACTURE GERON'S ANTICANCER CANDIDATE FOR TRIALS

Cambrex Bio Science will manufacture Geron's GRNVAC1 telomerase cancer vaccine for clinical trials. The agreement between the companies provides for the transfer of Geron's vaccine production process to Cambrex and the current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) manufacture of GRNVAC1 by Cambrex.

GRNVAC1 is a therapeutic cancer vaccine comprised of autologous dendritic cells loaded ex vivo with telomerase mRNA. Results of the first completed Phase I/II clinical trial of the drug in metastatic prostate cancer patients were published in the Journal of Immunology in March 2005.

The vaccine was well-tolerated with no major treatment-related toxicities, and telomerase-specific T-cell responses were generated in 19 of 20 subjects.