Geron Corporation Announces Closing of Its Public Offering of Common Stock
MENLO PARK, Calif., Dec 10, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Geron Corporation (GERN)
announced today the closing of its previously announced public offering of
17,391,305 shares of its common stock, as well as 2,608,695 additional shares of
its common stock pursuant to the full exercise of the over-allotment option
granted to the underwriters. The public offering price was $5.00 per share and
the total net proceeds to Geron from the public offering are approximately $93.5
million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated
offering expenses.
Geron intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for research and
development, including clinical trials for its product candidates, clinical
development of product candidates it has in-licensed, and other general corporate
purposes.
"We are advancing our telomerase inhibitor product candidate through multiple
Phase 2 clinical trials, including larger randomized trials in breast and lung
cancer, and we intend to initiate a randomized Phase 2 trial with comparator arms
of our in-licensed compound, GRN1005, in brain metastases in 2011. In addition,
our hESC cell therapy for spinal cord injury has now entered clinical trials,"
said David L. Greenwood, Geron's executive vice president and chief financial
officer. "Our balance sheet, strengthened by this financing, is primarily
dedicated to funding our clinical trials to treat patients."
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Lazard Capital Markets LLC acted as the joint
book-running managers of the offering. Rodman & Renshaw, LLC, Roth Capital
Partners, LLC and WBB Securities, LLC were co-managers of the offering.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an
offer to buy any of these securities, nor will there be any sale of these
securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation
or sale is not permitted.
A shelf registration statement together with an accompanying base prospectus on
Form S-3 relating to the shares was filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) and is effective. A preliminary prospectus supplement, a final
prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to the offering
have been filed with the SEC and are available on the SEC's web site at
sec.gov.
About Geron
Geron is developing first-in-class biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer
and chronic degenerative diseases. The company is advancing anti-cancer therapies
through multiple Phase 2 clinical trials in different cancers by targeting the
enzyme telomerase and with compounds designed to penetrate the blood-brain
barrier (BBB). The company is developing cell therapy products from
differentiated human embryonic stem cells for multiple indications, including
central nervous system (CNS) disorders, heart failure, diabetes and
osteoarthritis, and has initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial in spinal cord injury.
For more information, visit geron.com.
Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release regarding the use
of net proceeds and the future clinical development plans for GRN1005 constitute
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Geron will
continue to need significant additional capital to fund its operations and may be
unable to raise capital when needed, which would force Geron to delay, reduce or
eliminate its product candidate development programs or commercialization
efforts. 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 in
Geron's prospectus supplement related to the public offering filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on December 7, 2010, and from time to time in
Geron's periodic reports, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2009 and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended September 30, 2010, each available on the SEC's web site at
sec.gov.
SOURCE: Geron Corporation
Geron Corporation
Anna Krassowska, Ph.D., 650-473-7765
Investor and Media Relations
info@geron.com |
