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To: 2MAR$ who wrote (826)	6/12/2001 5:22:35 PM
From: wgh613	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 26752

GERN moving on Patent news: Geron Reports Issuance of Second U.S. Patent for Human Embryonic Germ Cells MENLO PARK, Calif., Jun 12, 2001 (BW HealthWire) -- Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN chart, msgs) announced today that the U.S. Patent Office has issued U.S. Patent No. 6,245,566, with claims directed to human embryonic germ cells. The patent is licensed exclusively to Geron from Johns Hopkins University. Geron funded the work of Dr. John Gearhart at Johns Hopkins that led to the successful isolation of human embryonic germ (hEG) cells. These hEG cells are pluripotent, meaning that they are capable of developing into all cell types in the human body. The hEG cells are now being developed at Johns Hopkins with Geron funding for a variety of therapeutic and research applications. "This is the second U.S. patent to issue in our hEG cell patent portfolio," noted David J. Earp, J.D., Ph.D., Geron's vice president of intellectual property. "The first, U.S. Patent No. 6,090,622, issued on July 18, 2000. Between them, the claims of these two patents cover methods of producing hEG cells, as well as the cells themselves. These two patents add to our existing portfolio of pluripotent stem cell intellectual property rights which includes two other issued U.S. patents covering human embryonic stem (hES) cells which were isolated by Dr. James Thomson at the University of Wisconsin using Geron funding. Our current portfolio of pluripotent stem cell intellectual property also includes over 50 patent applications pending around the world covering many aspects of cell growth, scale-up and differentiation into various clinically relevant cell types." "The research that we are now funding in Dr. Gearhart's laboratory is focused on transplanting functional cells derived from the hEG cells into animal models of disease in order to restore tissue function," stated Thomas Okarma, Ph.D., M.D., Geron's president and chief executive officer. "At Geron, we are developing scalable methods for growing undifferentiated hES cells and have produced populations of several differentiated cell types such as hepatocytes, cardiomyocytes, and a number of neural cell types, including dopaminergic neurons. Our technical progress combined with our intellectual property assets surrounding these cells place Geron in a unique position to develop and commercialize therapeutic and research products based on these cells." Several disease conditions may be amenable to treatment with cells that are manufactured from hES or hEG cells, including Parkinson's disease, diabetes, spinal cord injuries, liver disease and heart disease. Geron's regenerative medicine unit is developing such cell-based therapies for these and other chronic diseases, as well as gene therapies based on Geron's proprietary telomerase technology. Geron's research and development technologies unit is focused on producing human cells for large scale screening of drug candidates for drug discovery as well as toxicity and metabolism analyses. Cells such as hepatocytes, cardiomyocytes and neural cells that Geron would manufacture from hES or hEG cells could be produced in large, uniform lot sizes for use by pharmaceutical companies as a drug discovery platform. Geron is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapeutic and diagnostic products for applications in oncology and regenerative medicine, and research tools for drug discovery. Geron's product development programs are based upon three patented core technologies: telomerase, human embryonic stem cells and nuclear transfer. 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 in this press release regarding product development and future applications of Geron's technology constitute forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and commercialization of potential products, dependence upon collaborative partners 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 March 31, 2001.

To: 2MAR$ who wrote (826)	6/13/2001 12:13:02 AM
From: Susan G	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 26752

Goldman's Sherlund Doesn't See a Quick Recovery for Software Makers By Eric Gillin Staff Reporter 6/12/01 9:21 AM ET Software may power the Internet, back the personal computer and take you wherever you want to go today, but according to Goldman Sachs analyst Rick Sherlund, it won't be recovering all that soon. While attending the Enterprise 2001 industry powwow in Carmel, Calif., the analyst fired off a note to investors that said executives were very concerned over the European slowdown and a second quarter that won't show any improvement over the miserable first. Second-quarter and possibly 2002 earnings estimates for a wide swath of software makers are at risk, Sherlund said. Even though the analyst had modeled zero growth in his second-quarter outlook for many companies, he said he would be "relieved" to see those low expectations be met, considering all the negativity pouring out of Carmel. "Executives of both the public and private companies report that there seems to be broad interest but little urgency among prospects in signing new license agreements, particularly larger deals," he wrote. Business in the software industry also closes late in the quarter, as customers wait until the last minute to buy, hoping to get a better price. As a result, little data are out there at the second-quarter midpoint to help handicap how business will look in July, when the quarter closes. With this in mind, Sherlund told investors that he was unable to adjust earnings estimates, but did say his observations should be considered cautious. With earnings season on the way and the preannouncement season in full swing, Sherlund told investors to expect the bad news to continue and to see software stock prices slide as a result. Investors who want a better look into the software industry will have to wait until June 18, when Oracle (ORCL:Nasdaq - news) releases fourth-quarter earnings. "This may provide a further data point on business conditions and serve as a directional indication for the rest of the software sector," Sherlund wrote. Sherlund says he considers Microsoft (MSFT:Nasdaq - news) a "relative safe harbor," and also favors Siebel Systems (SBEL:Nasdaq - news). thestreet.com