Geron Shares Fall After Company Drop Stem Cells

Shares of stem cell therapy pioneer Geron Corp. plunged Tuesday morning after the company said it would abandon stem cell research because of the high costs and commercial uncertainties for the field.

Geron said late Monday it would stop enrolling patients in its study of a stem cell-based treatment for spinal cord injury, the first stem cell trial approved in the U.S. The company is seeking a buyer for its stem cell program and announced plans to lay off 66 of its 175 employees. Company executives said Geron would focus its resources on developing two two mid-stage cancer drugs.

Shares of Menlo Park, Calif.-based Geron fell 39 cents, or 17.7 percent, to $2.20.

Analysts had viewed Geron as the undisputed leader in stem cell therapies, thanks to a powerful research and intellectual property position. The company helped finance researchers at the University of Wisconsin who first isolated human embryonic stem cells in 1998.

Embryonic stem cells are early-stage cells capable of morphing into any of the more than 220 cell types in the human body. The hope is that one day they might be used to replace or repair damaged tissue from ailments such as heart disease, Parkinson's and stroke.

But using stem cells from embryos has long been controversial and is opposed by some groups for religious and moral reasons.

Geron in October 2010 began testing an experimental therapy called GRNOPC1 in which patients with recent spinal cord injuries received an injection of approximately 2 million stem cells. The company has enrolled four patients in the study and will continue treating them, though new patients will not be accepted. So far, the treatment with oligodendrocyte progenitor cells - the OPC in the therapy's name - has been tolerated well without any serious side effects, the company said.

Geron's exit leaves Santa Monica, Calif.-based Advanced Cell Technology as the only U.S. company actively pursuing human trials of an embryonic stem cell therapy. The company is testing stem cells against a rare vision disorder called Stargardt disease, which causes blindness.