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Press Release November 5, 2006
Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. Ph: 240-731-52329290 Gaither Road Fax: 240-597-4061Gaithersburg, MD 20877 [email protected] www.immunomix.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 5, 2006 (Gaithersburg, MD)
Immunomic Therapeutics And The Geron Corporation Release JointStatement Announcing Licensing Deal
Gaithersburg, MD, November 5, 2006 /-- Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI,www.immunomictherapeutics.com) announced today that the company hasissued a sub-license to the LAMP technology to the Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) for use in its cancer vaccine program. Dr. Bill Hearl, the President and CEO ofITI said, “This sub-license and collaboration with Geron is an exciting step forwardfor ITI and we are very pleased to have such a great biotech company takeadvantage of the LAMP vaccine platform.” The joint press release is quoted below:
GERON LICENSES ANTIGEN TARGETING PATENTS FOR CANCERVACCINE PROGRAM FROM
IMMUNOMIC THERAPEUTICS
MENLO PARK, Calif., and GAITHERSBURG, Md., Nov. 6, 2006 – GeronCorporation (Nasdaq: GERN) and Immunomic Therapeutics Inc. (ITI)announced today a patent license agreement under which Geron will receiveexclusive rights to the LAMP antigen targeting sequence for use in cancervaccines.
Geron’s therapeutic cancer vaccine, GRNVAC1, triggers an immuneresponse against the universal cancer antigen, telomerase, and uses theLAMP sequence to enhance that immune response. The LAMP technologywas invented at Johns Hopkins University and recently licensed to ITI for allapplications.
Under the ITI-Geron license, Geron receives worldwide exclusive rights tothe Johns Hopkins LAMP patents for cancer vaccines directed to telomeraseas well as two additional antigen targets to be selected by Geron at a laterdate. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“GRNVAC1 has demonstrated tolerability and immunogenicity in a Phase I/IIclinical trial in metastatic prostate cancer,” said Thomas B. Okarma, Ph.D.,M.D., Geron’s president and CEO. “In addition, results from this trialsuggest that the use of the LAMP signal sequence may help to enhance the
Press Release November 5, 2006
already potent immune responses seen with telomerase alone. We arepleased to secure rights for the use of the LAMP sequence in GRNVAC1 andfuture cancer vaccine products.”
The LAMP sequence causes an antigen to which it is attached to be taken upby the lysosomal subcellular compartment of the cell. This has been shownto increase presentation on MHC class II molecules, which in turn, canproduce greater CD4+ T-cell responses against the antigen and a morepotent and longer lasting overall immune response. A Phase I/II clinical trialof Geron’s GRNVAC1 telomerase cancer vaccine conducted at DukeUniversity has previously shown that addition of the LAMP sequence to thetelomerase antigen increased patient CD4+ T-cell responses and improvedcytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) mediated killing of cancer cells.
About Geron
Geron is a Menlo Park, Calif.-based biopharmaceutical company that is developing and intends tocommercialize first-in-class therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer and degenerativediseases, including spinal cord injury, heart failure, diabetes and HIV/AIDS. The products arebased on Geron’s core expertise in telomerase and human embryonic stem cells. For moreinformation, visit www.geron.com
GRNVAC1 is a therapeutic cancer vaccine comprised of autologous dendritic cells loaded with telomerasemRNA linked to a LAMP targeting sequence. In March 2005, results of the first completed Phase I/IIclinical trial of GRNVAC1 in metastatic prostate cancer patients was published in the Journal ofImmunology (JI, 2005, 174:3798-38097).
Contacts at Geron:• Media: David Schull, Noonan Russo, 858-546-4810, [email protected]• Investors: Sharon Weinstein, Noonan Russo, 212-845-4271,
[email protected]• At Geron: David L. Greenwood, Chief Financial Officer, 650-473-7765, [email protected]
About Immunomic
Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (“ITI”) is a privately held biotechnology company headquartered inGaithersburg, Maryland that is commercializing a portfolio of clinical applications based on “LAMP” vaccinetechnology. ITI offers access to LAMP – based vectors and novel vaccine design through license andcollaborative research agreements. More information about ITI and LAMP technology can be obtainedfrom www.immunomix.com or www.immunomictherapeutics.com .
CONTACT ITI:Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc.Bill Hearl, Ph.D., President & [email protected]
This news release may contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisionsof the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-lookingstatements in this press release regarding potential applications of Geron’s technologies, constituteforward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risksinherent in the development and commercialization of potential products, uncertainty of clinical trialresults or regulatory approvals or clearances, need for future capital, dependence upon collaborators andmaintenance of our intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ materially from the resultsanticipated in these forward-looking statements. Additional information on potential factors that couldaffect our results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in Geron’s periodicreports, including the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005.
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