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Geron is also developing cell-based therapeutics based on differentiated cells derived from hESCs including neural cells to repair spinal cord injuries, dopaminergic neurons that are lost because of Parkinson’s disease, cardiomyocytes for heart disease, pancreatic islet ß cells for type 1 diabetes, chondrocytes for
osteoarthritis, osteoblasts for osteoporosis, and hematopoietic stem cells for blood diseases and to prevent immune rejection of the other cell types. Geron plans to begin clinical trials on acute spinal cord injury treatment in early 2006, according to chief executive officer Tom
Okarma.
Recently, research scientists at the University of Washington, in collaboration with
Geron, successfully transplanted human embryonic stem cells into the rodent heart thereby creating new blood vessels around the hearts. "The successful engraftment of the
hESC-derived cardiomyocytes provides evidence for the feasibility of using these cells in myocardial repair," stated Jane S.
Lebkowski, Ph.D., Geron's senior vice president of regenerative medicine.
Last quarter, Q2 2005, Geron reported revenues of $4.7 million with a net loss of $3.1 million or $(0.06) per share, compared to revenues of $366,000 and losses of $8.9 million or $(0.20) per share in the second quarter of 2004. A marked increase in quarterly revenue was due to an upfront payment of $4 million in conjunction with the transfer of intellectual property rights related to nuclear transfer for use in animal cloning to the company's new joint venture, stART Licensing, Inc.
The Research and Development (R&D) expenses of $6.8 million for Q2 2005 decreased compared to operating expenses of $9.5 million in 2004 due to reductions in costs to produce supplies of GRN163L. Geron expects R&D expenses to increase in the next year as the company incurs expenses related to clinical trials of telomerase inhibitor, GRN163L, continued clinical trials of their telomerase cancer vaccine and continued development of their hESC programs.
Geron's share price soared 26.6 percent in July of this year after the company announced a collaborative agreement with Merck
(NYSE:MRK) on development of cancer vaccines. We are expecting additional positive announcements from Geron in the coming quarters regarding their therapeutic vaccine targeting telomerase in patients with metastatic prostate cancer and cell-based therapies which could drive the share price even higher in the next 12 months.
StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM), a Palo Alto, CA-based biotechnology company, is focused on stem cell-based therapies to treat diseases and disorders of the central nervous system (CNS), as well as diseases of the liver and pancreas. StemCells Inc., has isolated human central nervous system stem cells (hCNS-SC) directly from normal brain tissue and has shown that these adult stem cells can migrate to different regions of the brain to become specialized cells as a potential treatment for Batten disease, spinal cord injury, demyelinating diseases, stroke and Alzheimer's disease.
StemCells Inc.'s patent portfolio in the stem cell therapy area includes 43 U.S. patents issued. Their proprietary human neural stem cells,
HuCNS-SC, had its IND application filed in December 2004 for the treatment of Batten disease, a genetic disease causing neurological cell loss. The Investigational New Drug
(IND) application is currently on clinical hold to respond to the Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) questions and concerns. In late August 2005, the State of California granted
StemCells, Inc. a manufacturing license for its cell processing facility for
HuCNS-SC. “Acquiring this license is another milestone in our progress toward beginning our first human clinical trial,” said Martin
McGlynn, President and CEO of StemCells.
StemCells posted widening losses of $3.9 million for Q2 2005 versus a loss of $3.3 in the same period last year. Revenues grew from $6,000 for the period last year to $36,000 for the quarter in 2005, primarily from grants and licensing. R&D spending for the quarter was $2.1 million, compared with $1.9 million for the same period in 2004, primarily due to an increase in the number of full-time employees, now 30 compared to 24 in 2004, working in R&D and lab support.
Aastrom Biosciences, (NASDAQ:ASTM) based in Ann Arbor, MI with a current market cap of $280 million, develops products for the repair or regeneration of human tissues utilizing its proprietary adult stem cell technology to focus on Tissue Repair Cells
(TRCs), a mix of bone marrow-derived adult stem and progenitor cells. Aastrom is enrolling participants for Phase I/II level clinical trials in developing TRCs for the treatment of severe bone fractures, ischemic vascular disease, jaw reconstruction, and spine fusion. Aastrom's total annual revenues for 2004 were $1.3 million.
Although StemCells' and Aastrom Biosciences' shares are among best performers of the stem cell-related group in the past 12 months with a return of over 200 percent, compared to the 30 percent return of the AMEX Biotechnology Index
(AMEX:$BTK.X), investors should be aware that the average daily trading volume of
StemCells, 3.1 million shares, and Aastrom Bioscience, 3.4 million shares, are extremely high for companies with a market cap of just under $350 million. Heavy trading days for stem cell companies such as STEM and ASTM are activities most likely driven by day-trading and short-selling. |
