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Thanks Katie for clearing up information on Geron. You're correct about their new licensing agreement with WARF. Here's some more info from their web site - also explains difference between human embryonic stem cells (hES) and germ cells (hEG) SEE: www.geron.com Linda ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- "GERON CORPORATION AND WISCONSIN ALUMNI RESEARCH FOUNDATION RESOLVE LAWSUIT AND SIGN NEW LICENSE AGREEMENT MENLO PARK — January 9, 2002 — Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN) and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (“WARF”) announced today that they have resolved a federal lawsuit and have entered into a new license for the commercialization of human embryonic stem cell (“hESC”) technology. The new agreement supersedes the earlier license, and resolves all issues related to the lawsuit filed by WARF against Geron in August, 2001. In the new license, Geron holds exclusive rights to develop therapeutic and diagnostic products from hESC-derived neural, cardiomyocyte and pancreatic islet cells. Geron also has non-exclusive rights to develop therapeutic and diagnostic products from hESC-derived hematopoietic, chondrocyte, and osteoblast cells. The agreement also grants Geron non-exclusive rights to develop research products in the following cell types: hepatocytes, neural cells, hematopoietic cells, osteoblasts, pancreatic islets and myocytes. Geron and WARF have further agreed to grant research rights to existing hESC patents and patent filings to academic and governmental researchers without royalties or fees. WiCell Research Institute, a WARF subsidiary, will distribute the cell lines. Third party for-profit companies may form collaborations with Geron or obtain licenses to Geron’s intellectual property on market terms. “When the disagreement between us arose, both Geron and WARF said we expected to resolve our differences and we have done so. In this new license, Geron has the rights we need to pursue our product development strategies, which are therapies for neurological disorders, heart disease and diabetes – these are large markets and our top priorities,” said Thomas B. Okarma, Ph.D., M.D., Geron’s president and chief executive officer. “We also plan to develop therapeutic and diagnostic products based upon other cell types for applications in arthritis, osteoporosis and transfusion medicine, as well as research products for use in drug discovery and development. We anticipate collaborating with other companies to ensure that this technology is developed as broadly as possible. WARF looks forward to a renewed partnership with Geron,” said Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of WARF. “We are pleased that we are able to dismiss the lawsuit and resolve our differences on an amicable basis. WARF has always believed that Geron has unique technology that holds promise in bringing effective hES cell therapies to patients in need. The new agreement will allow Geron to succeed in its development program and also enable a large number of scientists in academia and other companies to invest in the field. Wide public access to Wisconsin’s stem cell lines has always been critically important to WARF and the new agreement assures that such access will continue.” The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (“WARF”) is an independent, non-profit foundation chartered to support research at the UW-Madison and the designated technology transfer organization for the university. WARF holds the patents on Professor James Thomson’s discovery that human embryonic stem cells can be isolated and grown in culture. Additional information about WARF is available at http://www.warf.ws. Geron is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapeutic and diagnostic products for applications in oncology and regenerative medicine, and research tools for drug discovery. Geron’s product development programs are based upon three patented core technologies: telomerase, human embryonic stem cells and nuclear transfer. Additional information about Geron Corporation can be obtained at http://www.geron.com. ### GERON ANNOUNCES GRANT OF U.S. PATENT No. 6,331,406 FOR HUMAN EMBRYONIC GERM CELLS MENLO PARK, CA — December 19, 2001 — Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN) announced today that the U.S. Patent Office has issued U.S. Patent No. 6,331,406, with claims directed to the use of human embryonic germ cells in drug screening assays. The patent is licensed exclusively to Geron from Johns Hopkins University. Geron is the exclusive licensee of the work of Dr. John Gearhart at Johns Hopkins that led to the successful isolation of human embryonic germ (hEG) cells. Like human embryonic stem (hES) cells, hEG cells are pluripotent, meaning that they are capable of developing into all cell types in the human body. The hEG cells are now being developed at Johns Hopkins with Geron funding for a variety of therapeutic and research applications. “This is the third U.S. patent to issue out of Dr. Gearhart’s work on the hEG cells,” noted David J. Earp, J.D., Ph.D., Geron’s vice president of intellectual property. “The two prior patents cover the hEG cells themselves and methods of propagating them. The patent issued today is specifically directed to use of the hEG cells for drug screening. Our current portfolio of pluripotent stem cell intellectual property includes more than 50 patent applications pending around the world covering many aspects of cell growth, scale-up and differentiation into various clinically relevant cell types.” The research that Geron is currently funding in Dr. Gearhart’s laboratory is focused on transplanting functional cells derived from the hEG cells into animal models of disease in order to restore tissue function. Several disease conditions may be amenable to treatment with cells that are manufactured from hES or hEG cells, including Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, spinal cord injuries, liver disease and heart disease. Geron’s Regenerative Medicine business unit is developing such cell-based therapies for these and other chronic diseases. Geron’s R & D Technologies business unit is focused on producing human cells for large scale screening of drug candidates for drug discovery as well as toxicity and metabolism analyses. Cells such as hepatocytes, cardiomyocytes and neural cells that Geron would manufacture from hES or hEG cells could be produced in large, uniform lot sizes for use by pharmaceutical companies across the entire drug discovery and development process." ----------------------------------------------------- "Human Embryonic Stem Cells: Source for Replacement Tissues Stem cells generally are self–renewing primitive cells that can develop into functional, differentiated cells. Human embryonic stem cells are unique because they are pluripotent: that is, they can develop into all cells and tissues in the body. There are two types of human embryonic stem cells, also called hESCs: human embryonic stem (hES) cells, which were derived by our collaborators from donated in vitro fertilized blastocysts or very early-stage embryos; and human embryonic germ (hEG) cells, which were derived from donated fetal material. Both hES and hEG cells are capable of developing into all three cellular layers, including the gut epithelium (endoderm); cartilage, bone, and smooth and striated muscle (mesoderm); and neural epithelium, embryonic ganglia and stratified squamous epithelium (ectoderm). ...We intend to use hESC technology to identify and assign function to the genes that control human development; enable the development of transplantation therapies by providing standard starting material for the manufacture of cells and tissues; and facilitate pharmaceutical research and development practices by providing cells for screening, and assigning function to newly discovered genes. " ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn