Press Release Dated

Press Release Dated November 7, 2013

Geron Corporation Reports Third

Quarter 2013 Financial Results

Conference Call Scheduled for 4:30

p.m. EST Today, November 7th

MENLO PARK, Calif., November 7, 2013 -- Geron

Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN) today reported financial results for

the third quarter ended September 30, 2013.

For the third quarter of 2013, the company

reported a net loss of $8.3 million, or $0.06 per share, compared to $16.0 million, or $0.13 per

share, for the comparable 2012 period. Net loss for the first nine months of

million, or $0.23 per share, compared to $53.0 million, or $0.42 per share, for

the comparable 2012 period. The company ended the third quarter of 2013 with $67.0 million in

cash and investments.

Revenues for the third quarter of 2013

were $181,000, compared to $636,000 for the comparable 2012 period. Revenues for the first

nine months of 2013 were $1.1 million, compared to $2.0 million for

period. The decrease in revenues for the three and nine month periods ending

compared to the same periods in 2012, primarily reflects the recognition of a

license payment from GE Healthcare UK, Limited in the third quarter of 2012 and termination of

the company s license agreement with Asia Biotech Corporation in December 2012. The license

agreement with GE Healthcare UK, Limited was transferred to Asterias Biotherapeutics,

Inc. upon the closing of the divestiture of the company s stem cell assets.

Total operating expenses for the third

quarter of 2013 were $8.9 million, compared to $16.5 million for the comparable 2012 period.

Research and development expenses for the third quarter of 2013 were $5.3

to $11.7 million for the comparable 2012 period. General and administrative

expenses for the third quarter of 2013 were $3.5 million, compared to $4.8 million for the

comparable 2012 period.

Total operating expenses for the first

nine months of 2013 were $30.7 million, compared to $55.3 million

2012 period. Research and development expenses for the first nine months of 2013

compared to $39.6 million for the comparable 2012 period. General and

administrative expenses for the first nine months of 2013 were $11.6 million, compared

to $15.7 million for the comparable 2012 period.

Operating expenses for the 2013 third

quarter and year-to-date periods also included restructuring charges of $116,000 and $1.0 million,

respectively, related to the company s decisions in April 2013 to discontinue

research programs and companion diagnostics program based on telomere length, as

research laboratory facility and reduce its workforce.

The decrease in research and development expenses for the three and nine

month periods ending September 30,

2013, compared to the same periods in 2012, primarily reflects reduced personnel-related

costs resulting from recent

restructurings, lower manufacturing costs for drug products and reduced clinical trial expenses in connection

with the wind-down of the imetelstat trials in metastatic breast cancer and

advanced non-small cell

lung cancer and GRN1005 trials in patients with brain metastases. The decrease in general and administrative

expenses for the three and nine month periods ending September 30, 2013, compared to the same

periods in 2012, primarily reflects reduced personnel-related

costs resulting from recent restructurings, lower

costs for consulting services and reduced costs for legal services associated with the company s patent portfolio.

Non-cash operating expenses, which primarily

included stock-based compensation and depreciation, were approximately $1.4 million and $4.6

million for the three and nine month periods ended September 30,

compared to $2.0 million and $6.4 million for the comparable 2012

Interest and other income for the third

quarter of 2013 amounted to $699,000, compared to $140,000 for the comparable 2012 period.

Interest and other income for the first nine months of 2013 was

to $481,000 for the comparable 2012 period. The increase in interest and other

income for the three and nine month periods ending

September 30, 2013, compared to the same periods in 2012, primarily reflects a net gain on the sale

of excess laboratory equipment in connection with the closure of the company s

laboratory facility, partially offset by a decline in interest income due to

lower cash and investment balances in 2013. The company has not incurred any impairment charges on

its investment portfolio.

Investigator-Sponsored Trial in

Myelofibrosis. In November 2012, Dr. Ayalew

Tefferi at Mayo Clinic initiated an investigator-sponsored trial (IST) to evaluate the safety and efficacy of

imetelstat in patients with myelofibrosis (MF) and to determine an appropriate dose and

schedule for further evaluation. The trial is an open-label study in patients with primary

MF, post-essential thrombocythemia MF or post-polycythemia vera MF who have two to three risk

factors (intermediate-2) or four or more risk factors (high risk) as

Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System Plus (DIPSS Plus) described by

Gangat, et al, in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (2011). The primary endpoint is

overall response rate, which is defined by the proportion of patients who are

classified as responders , which means that they have achieved either a

improvement (CI), partial remission (PR) or complete remission (CR),

consistent with the criteria of the 2013 International Working Group for Myeloproliferative

Neoplasms Research and Treatment (IWG-MRT). Secondary endpoints include

reduction of spleen size, improvement in anemia or inducement of red

transfusion independence, safety and tolerability.

The investigator has informed Geron that

more than fifty patients have been enrolled in the IST. Enrollment

patients in the first cohort of MF patients (Cohort A) in which the dose of

imetelstat is given once every three weeks was completed at the end of March 2013 and the

criteria in the clinical protocol of at least two responders in the first 11 patients

were met to enable expanded enrollment. Enrollment of the first 11 patients of

the second cohort of MF patients (Cohort B) in which imetelstat was

four weeks, followed by one dose every three weeks, was completed in May 2013

and the pre-specified criteria in the clinical protocol of at least two responders

in the first 11 patients were met to enable expanded enrollment. In addition,

the investigator has informed the company that enrollment has commenced in additional

cohorts to evaluate the safety and efficacy of imetelstat using different

dosing algorithms, as well as to evaluate imetelstat in different patient

populations, including patients with MF that has transformed into AML, or

and certain subpopulations of myelodysplastic syndromes/myeloproliferative neoplasms

Certain preliminary data from patients enrolled in Cohort A and Cohort B of the

ongoing IST have been selected for presentation

in an oral session at the 55th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition