Geron Corporation

After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during that time, simply press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. I would now like to turn the call over to David Borah, Head of Investor Relations. David, please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Geron Corporation's second quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Before we begin, please note that during the course of this presentation and question and answer session, we will be making forward-looking statements regarding future events, performance, plans, expectations, and other projections, including those relating to the launch, commercial opportunity, therapeutic potential of Ritello, anticipated clinical and commercial events and related timelines, the sufficiency of Geron's financial resources, and other statements that are not historical facts. Actual events or results could differ materially. Therefore, I refer you to the discussion under the heading risk factors in Geron's most recent periodic report filed with the SEC, which identifies important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements and our future updates to those risk factors. Geron undertakes no duty or obligation to update our forward-looking statements. With that, I'll turn the call over to Dawn Beer, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer.

Thank you, Dave, and good morning to everyone on the call. I'll begin on slide four. Earlier today, the company issued a press release announcing the appointment of Geron's new president and CEO, Harout Samirjian. He has joined today's call and will provide brief comments before we open the call for Q&A. I'm also joined by several members of our management team, Michelle Robertson, our Chief Financial Officer, Jim Ziegler, our Chief Commercial Officer, and Dr. Joseph Ede, our Executive Vice President of Research and Development. Our top priority remains the successful commercialization of Ritello in the United States. We are executing with precision across our enhanced and aligned commercial and medical affairs strategies established this past quarter. We see that they're beginning to translate into measurable results and believe that we have implemented the right strategies that will drive continued commercial success. Q2 Ritello net revenues were 49 million, representing an increase of approximately 24 percent over the first quarter. This was driven in part by increased demand from new patient starts. At the end of Q2, our inventory remained within our target range of two to four weeks. Last quarter, we outlined new strategic plans to bolster Ritello sales growth in the U.S. I'm happy to share that the team has been productively executing those strategies and very quickly implementing important initiatives. Today, Jim and Joe will provide an update highlighting these recent and significant advancements. Our first priority is to increase brand awareness among the highest decile of U.S. hematologists treating the greatest number of eligible lower-risk MDS patients. We have seen an increase in Ritello awareness, both aided and unaided among those physicians treating LRMDS patients. This is driven by GERON's wide-reaching and aligned commercial and medical affairs educational efforts. Our second priority is to ensure that physicians are not only aware of Ritello, but have a comprehensive understanding of how and where to prescribe confidently and successfully. We're pleased that our HCP market research in Q2 indicated a higher willingness to prescribe Ritello in the first 12 months of a patient's therapy, aligned with the approved label and NCCN guidelines. And our third priority is to expand U.S. KOL support and advocacy through aligned messaging, education, and engagement efforts. By expanding our commercial sales force and customer-facing roles by over 20% and doubling the size of our medical affairs organization, we believe that we're on track to achieve the KOL support warranted by Ritello's unique mechanism of action and differentiated therapeutic profile. Our new hires have completed training and are now deployed to educate and inform key accounts and HCPs. We expect to begin seeing their impact by year end. Jim will provide additional details on Ritello performance during the quarter. While still early in our execution, we're happy with how our sharpened commercial strategy and focus is showing early signs of success. We continue to keep a close eye on demand and sales trajectories and expect to make any necessary adjustments to ensure Ritello is being adequately and appropriately prescribed. Turning now to our European strategy, we continue activities to support launch and select EU markets next year. Jim and Joe will provide additional details later during this call. We are pleased with the recent enrollment momentum in the Phase 3 Impact MF trial and expect enrollment to be completed by year end. Today, Joe will provide more details on this trial, including recently presented data at several medical meetings. Lastly, in early March, I stepped into the role of interim president and CEO on request of the board of directors to lead the company at a critical time during the search for a new CEO. In less than six months, we quickly pivoted, resetting the path of the organization. We are confident that the important work that was done over the last two quarters now positions Jeron for future success. On behalf of Jeron's board of directors, I'm extremely pleased to welcome and to announce the appointment of Harout Simerjian as Jeron's new president and CEO. Harout is a seasoned commercial leader who brings more than 30 years of experience and focus within hematology and oncology and a vast network of deep relationships with important physicians and thought leaders in this space. I believe that Harout will complement Jeron's seasoned leadership team while leveraging his experience to drive shareholder value. I'll remain invested in and committed to Jeron's success as a member of the board of directors. I'll now turn the call over to Jim for a commercial update.