Geron Corporation GERN today reported that it has granted non-statutory stock options to purchase an aggregate of 1,684,220 shares of Geron common stock as inducements to newly hired employees in connection with commencement of employment with the Company.

The stock options were granted on April 19, 2023 at an exercise price of $2.49 per share, which is equal to the closing price of Geron common stock on the date of grant. Stock options representing an aggregate of 1,586,000 shares have a 10-year term and vest over four years, with 12.5% of the shares underlying the options vesting on the six-month anniversary of commencement of employment for the respective employees and the remaining shares vesting over the following 42 months in equal installments of whole shares, subject to continued employment with Geron through the applicable vesting dates. Stock options representing an aggregate of 98,220 shares have a 10-year term and vest in full upon achievement of certain regulatory milestones, subject to continued employment with Geron through the applicable vesting dates. All of the stock options were granted as material inducement to employment in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4) and are subject to the terms and conditions of the stock option agreements covering the grants and Geron's 2018 Inducement Award Plan, which was adopted December 14, 2018 and provides for the granting of stock options to new employees.

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. To learn more, visit http://www.geron.com/ or follow us on LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230420005375/en/