Geron Announces Telomerase License Agreement with Procter & Gamble
Geron Corporation announced that it has granted a nonexclusive license to The Procter & Gamble Company relating to Geron's human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) technology for research applications.
Under the terms of the agreement, Procter & Gamble will use hTERT to create immortalized cell lines from specified types of skin cells. Procter & Gamble plans to use the immortalized cells to study the regulation of cell function and develop biological assays for screening purposes. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"Telomerase has a unique value in biopharmaceutical research, which this agreement reflects," said Calvin B. Harley, Ph.D., Geron's chief scientific officer. "Cell lines immortalized with hTERT can proliferate indefinitely while maintaining normal physical and biological characteristics. That means that Procter & Gamble will be able to conduct repeated or long-term studies on the biology and function of the cells that would be impossible with mortal cells or with cells immortalized in ways that change their morphology or function."
Geron's telomerase platform is supported by a broad intellectual property portfolio of more than 180 issued patents and over 95 pending applications worldwide. Issued U.S. patents include claims covering the cloned genes that encode the RNA component (hTR) and the catalytic protein component (hTERT) of human telomerase, as well as cells that are immortalized by expression of recombinant hTERT.
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