Geron says FDA halts patient enrollment in another cancer trial

(Reuters) – Geron Corp said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered a halt to new patient enrollments in an early-stage trial of its blood cancer drug, imetelstat, over concerns about liver damage. The halt announced on Thursday was for enrollments in a trial sponsored by Mayo Clinic, and comes a week after the FDA ordered Geron to cease company-sponsored trials of the drug over similar concerns. Imetelstat is Geron’s only remaining drug and was touted as the company’s savior after curing 22 percent of myelofibrosis patients in a trial last year. Geron said on Thursday that it could not enroll new patients in the Mayo Clinic-sponsored study, but that the trial could continue with patients benefiting from the drug.