Geron Corporation Reports Inducement Grant Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)

FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN), a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company, today reported that it has granted an equity award in the form of stock options to purchase 11,000,000 shares of common stock to Harout Semerjian, Geron’s new President and Chief Executive Officer, as an inducement material to his acceptance of employment with Geron.

The stock options were granted on August 7, 2025. The stock options have an exercise price of $1.30 per share, which is equal to the closing price of Geron common stock on the grant date and have a ten-year term. 7,000,000 of the stock options vest over four years, with 12.5% of the shares underlying the options vesting on the six-month anniversary of commencement of his employment 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. 4,000,000 of the stock options vest over four years, with 25% of the shares underlying the options vesting on the one-year anniversary of commencement of his employment and the remaining shares vesting over the following 36 months in equal installments of whole shares, subject to continued employment with Geron through the applicable vesting dates. The stock options were granted by Geron’s Board of Directors (the “Board”), upon recommendation of the Compensation Committee of the Board, in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4) and are subject to the terms and conditions of Geron’s 2018 Inducement Award Plan and the form of stock option agreement under the plan.

About Geron

Geron is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to change lives by changing the course of blood cancer. Our first-in-class telomerase inhibitor RYTELO® (imetelstat) is approved in the United States and the European Union for the treatment of certain adult patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes with transfusion dependent anemia. We are also conducting a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of imetelstat in JAK-inhibitor relapsed/refractory myelofibrosis, as well as studies in other myeloid hematologic malignancies. Inhibiting telomerase activity, which is increased in malignant stem and progenitor cells in the bone marrow, aims to reduce proliferation and induce death of malignant cells. To learn more, visit www.geron.com or follow us on LinkedIn.