Geron Corporation Announces Proposed Public Offering of Common Stock

Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN), a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it intends to offer and sell $175 million of shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. All of the securities in the proposed offering are to be sold by Geron. Geron intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the number of shares of its common stock offered in the public offering. The proposed offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Stifel are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. Wedbush PacGrow and Baird are acting as co-lead managers for the offering. B. Riley Securities and Needham & Company are acting as co-managers for the offering.

An automatically effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 relating to the public offering of the shares of common stock described above was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 4, 2023. A preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to and describing the terms of the proposed offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available for free on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. When available, copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the proposed offering may be obtained from: Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, New York 10282, by telephone at 1-866-471-2526 or by email at [email protected]; and Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, Attention: Syndicate, One Montgomery Street, Suite 3700, San Francisco, California 94104, by telephone at 415-364-2720 or by email at [email protected].

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 would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

About Geron

Geron is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company pursuing therapies with the potential to extend and enrich the lives of patients living with hematologic malignancies. Its investigational first-in-class telomerase inhibitor, imetelstat, harnesses Nobel Prize winning science in a treatment that may alter the underlying course of these diseases.

Use of Forward-Looking Statements

Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release regarding the intention, completion, timing and option relating to the proposed public offering constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties related to: whether or not Geron will be able to raise capital through the sale of its securities; the final terms of the proposed offering, market and other conditions; the satisfaction of customary closing conditions related to the proposed public offering and the impact of general economic, industry or political conditions in the United States or internationally, the current or evolving effects of macroeconomic conditions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, civil or political unrest or military conflicts around the world, such as the military conflict between Ukraine and Russia, inflation, rising interest rates or prospects of a recession, on Geron's business operations and activities. There can be no assurance that Geron will be able to complete the proposed public offering on acceptable terms, or at all. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Additional information on other potential factors that could affect Geron's results and other risks and uncertainties can be found under the heading "Risk Factors" or other similar headings found in documents Geron files from time to time with the SEC, including Geron's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2022 and the preliminary prospectus supplement related to the proposed offering to be filed with the SEC on or about the date hereof. Geron expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.