Geron Guides to $230-240 Million as RYTELO Growth Hits Fourth Quarter

Quarterly net revenue above $60 million for the fourth consecutive quarter puts Geron (NASDAQ: GERN) on track for the middle to high end of its $230 million to $240 million full-year guidance, CEO and President Harout Semerjian told a Stifel event. The biopharmaceutical company also plans its first commercial sale in Germany before year-end.

Semerjian said growth increasingly comes from community physicians treating lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a blood disorder. Geron reset its U.S. operations after announcing a reduction in force in December 2025, and now emphasizes academic medical centers and high-volume community practices, where roughly 80% of lower-risk MDS patients receive treatment.

What is driving account growth?

About 1,700 accounts have ordered RYTELO, with 100 to 200 new accounts added each quarter, Semerjian said. He cautioned that not every account orders continuously.

• 36% of patients in a 12-month look-back measure were in the first- or second-line treatment setting.
• That share has climbed by roughly one to two percentage points per quarter.
• Geron estimates about 8,000 U.S. patients could benefit from RYTELO in the second-line setting.

The company is also educating prescribers on managing cytopenia (a reduction in blood cell counts) that can occur early in treatment, so physicians keep patients on therapy long enough to assess the drug's benefit.

Joseph Eid, executive vice president of research and development and chief medical officer, said real-world publications showed patients treated after launch were generally sicker than those in the IMerge study, but their duration on therapy resembled the trial experience in many ways.

Why does Germany come first in Europe?

Geron expects a commercial sale in Germany before year-end under what Semerjian called a gated, hybrid approach to European commercialization, advancing pricing preparations while retaining the option to partner. The German sale would establish a visible price before the country's AMNOG process, the statutory assessment that sets reimbursement levels. Germany also serves as a pricing reference market for other countries, he added.

Selling, general and administrative expenses could rise next year as Geron builds international infrastructure, though the company has cut operating expenses by another $10 million this year and intends to maintain financial discipline.

How will the trial discontinuation change strategy?

After discontinuing the Phase 3 IMpactMF trial, Geron has set three priorities, Semerjian said: growing the existing business, expanding RYTELO outside the U.S., and pursuing business development. The company will also continue discussions about investigator-sponsored studies involving RYTELO.

Geron is interested in advanced-stage or commercial-stage hematology or oncology assets that could use its existing community-based sales team. Describing the deal posture, Semerjian said Geron is "hungry but not desperate."

The company reported profitability in its latest quarter, but Semerjian said building the business for the longer term takes precedence over preserving near-term profitability. Geron believes it holds sufficient cash to fund operations for the foreseeable future, he said.

Geron, founded in 1990 and headquartered in Foster City, California, develops therapies for blood disorders and cancers. Its lead product, Rytelo (imetelstat), is a telomerase inhibitor approved in the U.S. for certain adults with lower-risk MDS who have transfusion-dependent anemia.