Geron to pick second stem cell target

By Julie Steenhuysen

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Biotechnology company Geron Corp. (GERN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has shown success in preventing heart failure in rats and will decide by late this year whether to focus its next stem cell human research on heart failure or diabetes, Chief Executive Tom Okarma said on Wednesday.

Okarma, speaking at the Reuters Biotechnology Summit in Los Angeles, said Geron will choose either the heart failure or diabetes stem cell therapy as its next major foray into testing embryonic stem cells in humans.

The company already has plans to start a trial in humans using stem cells to treat severe spinal cord injuries, which Okarma said will happen in the first or second quarter of 2007.

The company will apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the fourth quarter of 2006 to begin the trials on spinal cord victims, he added.

Data from of Geron's rat study, released on Wednesday, found that the human embryonic stem cells survived and helped to prevent the onset of heart failure when transplanted into the hearts of rats following heart attacks.

Heart failure often occurs following heart attacks when the weakened heart muscle supplies less oxygen-rich blood to the body.

The Menlo Park, California-based company has one of the largest portfolios of intellectual property related to embryonic stem cells.

"What the world doesn't seem to realize is how far we've come toward actually putting these cells into patients," Okarma said.  Continued...