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Geron Announces John Walker Resigns as Director

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^{Published in Health and Fitness on Wednesday, January 28th 2009 at 4:41 GMT, Last Modified on 2009-01-28 04:42:29 by Market Wire}  

MENLO PARK, Calif.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Geron Corporation (Nasdaq:GERN) today announced that John P. Walker has resigned from the Board of Directors. Mr. Walker served as a Director of the company since 1997 and was Chair of the Audit Committee.

"It has been my pleasure to serve on the Board of Directors of Geron over the last 12 years," said Mr. Walker. "During that time I have had the privilege of being associated with a team that does groundbreaking science and is a lead force in creating the field of regenerative medicine. The clearance, by the FDA, of the company's IND for spinal cord injury is a regulatory milestone and marks the beginning of a new modality of stem cell therapy. I have accepted a position to head another company, following the closing of the Novacea and Transcept merger, which shall be announced shortly, and must in that context resign as a Geron Director."

"We would like to thank John for his long tenure and considerable contributions to Geron during the years he served on the Board and in his capacity as Chair of the Audit Committee," said Thomas B. Okarma, Geron's president and chief executive officer. "We congratulate him on his new position."

About Geron

Geron is developing first-in-class biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer and chronic degenerative diseases, including spinal cord injury, heart failure and diabetes. The company is advancing an anti-cancer drug and a cancer vaccine that target the enzyme telomerase through multiple clinical trials. Geron is also the world leader in the development of human embryonic stem (hESC) cell-based therapeutics. The company has received FDA clearance to begin the world's first human clinical trial of a hESC-based therapy: GRNOPC1 for acute spinal cord injury. For more information, visit [ www.geron.com ].