GE Healthcare and Geron Announce Exclusive Global Agreement to Commercialize Stem Cell Drug Discovery Technologies

CHALFONT ST GILES, England & MENLO PARK, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), and Geron
Corporation (Nasdaq:GERN) today announced that they have entered into a global
exclusive license and alliance agreement to develop and commercialize cellular
assay products derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) for use in drug
discovery, development and toxicity screening. The program will use stem cells
derived from hESC lines listed on the NIH Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Registry.
Financial terms are not being disclosed.

"This agreement marks a further step in GE Healthcare`s cell technology strategy
aimed at addressing the potential of stem cell applications in the drug
discovery and therapy markets," said Konstantin Fiedler, General Manager, Cell
Technologies, GE Healthcare. "Combining GE Healthcare`s reach into the drug
discovery and research markets, as well our expertise in cell manufacturing,
with Geron`s expertise and IP in hESCs, means that together, we will be able to
accelerate the development of hESC-derived products for drug discovery and
development."

"Geron is intensely focused on developing hESC-based cell therapies, and the
expertise that we have developed in scalable manufacturing and differentiation
of hESCs to specific cell types is directly applicable to the production of
these cells for drug discovery," said David J. Earp, J.D., Ph.D. Geron`s Senior
Vice President of Business Development and Chief Patent Counsel. "In GE
Healthcare we have found the ideal partner with whom to develop this near-term
commercial opportunity. There is much anticipation of the availability of
hESC-derived cells for drug discovery applications within the pharmaceutical
industry and we look forward to working closely with GE Healthcare to deliver
these promising products."

Under the terms of the agreement, GE Healthcare has been granted an exclusive
license under Geron`s extensive intellectual property portfolio covering the
growth and differentiation of hESCs, as well as a sublicense under Geron`s
rights to the foundational hESC patents held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research
Foundation. GE Healthcare and Geron have established a multi-year alliance
program under which scientists from the two companies will work closely together
to develop hESC-based products for drug discovery. The program will use stem
cells derived from hESC lines listed on the NIH Human Pluripotent Stem Cell
Registry. GE Healthcare will fund the R&D program and will be responsible for
manufacturing, sales and distribution of products developed under the agreement.

Up to three quarters of toxicity problems are not detected until preclinical or
later stages of drug development and this significantly increases the cost of
developing new drugs. Earlier detection of toxicity problems could reduce both
overall drug development costs and potentially harmful patient exposure in
clinical trials. The GE Healthcare - Geron alliance aims to develop cellular
assay products derived from hESCs that could be used in early in vitro screening
of drug candidates.

Cells derived from hESCs have similar attributes to their counterparts in the
body, and can therefore be used to predict many pharmacological characteristics
of a drug candidate. Cardiotoxicity and hepatotoxicity are the most common
causes of drug safety liabilities and withdrawal of drugs during development.
Derivation of functional cell types from hESCs, in particular hepatocytes of the
liver and cardiomyocytes of the heart, could provide a reliable supply of cells
to perform metabolism, biodistribution and toxicity testing of drug candidates.

The combination of GE Healthcare`s Cell Factory capability for cell reproduction
and manufacturing with Geron`s hESC technology will make it possible to generate
a large scale supply of hESC-derived cells which retain normal cellular
functions and could address bottlenecks in new drug research and accelerate the
drug development process. The first products developed in the GE Healthcare and
Geron alliance are expected to be available by early 2010, with a pipeline of
products to follow.

Under the terms of the agreement, intellectual property rights arising from the
alliance program research will be shared, with GE Healthcare receiving rights
for the development of drug discovery technologies, and Geron receiving rights
for cell therapy applications.

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that
are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging
and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems,
drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance
improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver
better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we
partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change
necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our "healthymagination" vision for the future invites the world to join us on
our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs,
increasing access and improving quality and efficiency around the world.
Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $17 billion unit of
General Electric Company (NYSE:GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than
46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients
in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our
website at www.gehealthcare.com.

About Geron

Geron is a biopharmaceutical company that is developing first-in-class
therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer and chronic degenerative
diseases, including spinal cord injury, heart failure and diabetes. The products
are based on our core expertise in telomerase and human embryonic stem cells.
For more information about Geron, visit www.geron.com.

Safe Harbor

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 statements in this press release regarding
potential applications of Geron`s human embryonic stem cell technology
constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties,
including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and
commercialization of potential products, uncertainty of clinical trial results
or regulatory approvals or clearances, need for future capital, dependence upon
collaborators and maintenance of Geron`s 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 Geron`s 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, 2009.

GE Healthcare
Conor McKechnie, +44-771-751-7028
Media Relations
conor.mckechnie@ge.com
Arvind Gopalratnam, +1-414-721-2429
Media Relations
arvind.gopalratnam@ge.com
or
Geron
Anna Krassowska, +1-650-473-7765
Investor and Media Relations
info@geron.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009