ImetelChat

In a strategic partnership the complementary aspects of the cooperation are the basis of any successful partnership (one of the things I once learned at INSEAD...). In order to start a discussion I try give my views on how Geron may want to keep its cooperation with JnJ successfull and sustainable.

It is important that Geron remains its leading IP position regarding imet and telomerase in order to keep their added value for JnJ. That's the part JnJ was/is missing and has found in Geron, who have spent maybe over 200 man years (20 people during 10 years?) to come to the point they are now. And still new patents are coming out. A cooperation will be most productive and sustainable if both parties mutually acknowledge and respect their complementary skills and roles. Then partners make each other stronger in their core competences. Finding out all the combo's may be something more suitable for JnJ, because this requires a lot of resources and they are into so much already. Geron should further work out and improve the molecular delivery of imet to other organs and tissue. So diversification in Geron's case is more like making imet applicable for multiple indications; i.e. further development of imet as a platform. Or as we say in marketing: a deep assortment (vertical) within a single class (i.e. telomerase inhibition), rather then a broad assortment (horizontal) in multiple classes. That is specialism. If a company excels on a certain specialism it is capable of successfully partnering with significantly larger companies for a long time. (off course a buy out may at the end of the line). But then it has to keep investing and developing into their specialism while making sure cooperation is going smoothly at any level (personal, technical, company cultures, timing/speed etc.). That's where the crucial role of the CEO is coming in.

A genetic profiling tool to quickly find out whether imet is expected to work for certain diseases (and even for individual patients) would be an enormous valuable asset, as all clinics and their hem/onc departments can find out themselves if it is likely that imet will benefit their patients. No better mechanism for creating a world wide market pull, I would say. That certainly will make JnJ happy.

With this strategy Geron can capitalize on the many years of research and leverage its IP (and future cash flow), while risks are reduced because of the multiple lines of business through multiple indications. Geron must stay the undisputed global leader in telomerase inhibition, all be it to keep ahead of the competition.

The partnership with Janssen is limited to Imetelstat only. It is very clear from the agreement that any use of Imetelstat would have to include Janssen. I would like to see activity partnering with other big pharma companies rather than limiting the business relationship to J&J only.
The value of all the telomere related IP combined could be worth far more than anyone can imagine at this point. The patents are very broad and so highly specialized that people without inside knowledge can't identify all the potential medical and business opportunities they contain. And, as you said, the patents keep being issued and the applications keep growing.
Recently, the science and medical research community seems to have woken up to the whole telomere / telomerase potential and is reporting that "telomerase inhibitors" have enormous potential without mentioning any particular drug that performs that function. There are any other telomerase inhibitors, but it is not clear if those in-vitro chemicals violate the Geron patents or have potential as drugs if they do not. Although the Geron patents are very broad and another non-infringing approach to telomerase inhibition may or may be possible, I have not seen any discussion about the drug potential of the chemicals being used by researchers.
Once the revenue stream from Imetelstat royalties start flowing in, there will be many opportunities for new lines of business, both independently and with many other companies, to develop new drugs, products, treatments, and who knows what else. As many have pointed out, the combination therapies are plentiful and include the entire oncology portfolio.
I am not an advocate for a buyout by any company because of the massive potential in the IP that will be absorbed by whomever is successful in buying the company. I will post some valuations for discussion in a new thread that show the stock price for Imetelstat alone could be several hundred dollars per share within 3 or 4 years. Without too much "conjecture", it is possible that the telomerase inhibitor technology could be the basis for a revolution in medical care that could be worth far more than any drug. If Imetelstat is an oncology "platform", the Geron IP is an entirely new industry with unlimited potential.