Geron Announces Direct Equity Issuance
Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers
MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 2004--Geron
Corporation (Nasdaq:GERN) announced today that it has entered into a
definitive agreement to sell approximately 6.5 million shares of Geron
common stock to institutional investors at $6.10 per share, for gross
proceeds of $40 million. In connection with the sale, the company
issued warrants with a sixty-day exercise period to purchase
approximately 2.0 million shares at the same price per share, and
longer term warrants, exercisable after 180 days, to purchase
approximately 2.3 million shares at a premium.
"With this financing, our cash position is approximately $130
million," said David Greenwood, Geron's executive vice president and
chief financial officer. "We are funding trials at Duke University
Medical Center with the cancer vaccine and expect to be funding trials
with our telomerase inhibitor in 2005. We are also on a path to a
regulatory filing and trials in spinal cord injury using cells derived
from hESCs (human embryonic stem cells). In addition to these
projects, we are funding preclinical studies with cardiomyocytes and
islets and other cell types derived from hESCs. Our objective is to
maintain a strong balance sheet as we progress programs to the
clinic."
The shares were offered through a prospectus supplement to the
company's effective universal shelf registration statement. The
Company arranged the financing directly with the investors.
Geron is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and
commercializing therapeutic and diagnostic products for cancer based
on its telomerase technology, and cell-based therapeutics using its
human embryonic stem cell technology.
This news release may contain forward-looking statements made
pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such
forward-looking statements regarding future progress of the company's
products involve risks and uncertainties, including, without
limitation, risks inherent in the development and commercialization of
potential products, need for regulatory approvals or clearances and
the maintenance of our intellectual property rights. Actual results
may differ materially from the results anticipated in these
forward-looking statements. Additional information on potential
factors that could affect our results and other risks and
uncertainties are detailed from time to time in Geron's periodic
reports, including the quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended September 30, 2004.
--30--WG/sf*
CONTACT: Geron Corporation
David L. Greenwood, 650-473-7765
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BIOTECHNOLOGY PHARMACEUTICAL
SOURCE: Geron Corporation
Copyright Business Wire 2004
Nov-11-2004 12:30 GMT
Symbols:
US;GERN
Source BW Business Wire
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