US stem cell pioneer abandons ‘costly’ research

STEM cell therapy pioneer Geron is to abandon stem cell research because of high costs and commercial uncertainties for the field.

The US company is seeking a buyer for its stem cell programme and plans to lay off 66 of its 175 employees.

The company said 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 US.

Last year, Geron began testing an experimental therapy called GRNOPC1 in which patients with recent spinal cord injuries received an injection of approximately 2 million stem cells. It will continue to treat the four patients enrolled in the study.

Company executives said it would focus its resources on developing two mid-stage cancer drugs. As a result of the news, shares of the California-based company fell 17.7%.

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.

Geron has already invested tens of millions in the stem cell therapy over the past decade. Its submission to the US Food and Drug Administration to conduct the first trial in patients of human embryonic stem cells was the largest and most complex ever submitted.

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 stroke.

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

Geron’s exit leaves Advanced Cell Technology as the only US company actively pursuing human trials of an embryonic stem cell therapy.