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Biotech / Medical : Geron Corp. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Savant who wrote (3346)	10/18/2012 8:20:02 PM
From: Savant	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3570

BioTime Proposes Buying Geron's Stem Cell Assets Last Update: 10/18/2012 9:37:58 AM By Saabira Chaudhuri In an open letter, BioTime Inc. (BTX) urged Geron Corp. (GERN) shareholders to push Geron's board to sell the company's stem cell assets to BioTime. Geron's shares popped 7% to $1.52 in early trading. In November of last year, Geron said it would discontinue the further development of its stem cell programs and will eliminate 38% of its workforce as the company aimed to focus resources on advancing two cancer drug candidates. At the time, the company, which said it would eliminate 66 full-time positions, said it was seeking partners with the technical and financial resources to further develop its stem cell programs. In its letter, BioTime said: "Nearly a year has now passed, and Geron has not announced any transaction that would provide value to either Geron or its shareholders from those stem cell assets." Geron didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. BioTime proposed that Geron would transfer its stem cell assets to a subsidiary of BioTime, in exchange for which shareholders would receive a 21.4% stake in the subsidiary. BioTime said its offer, if accepted, would allow Geron shareholders to own up to 45% of a new publicly traded company that will own the Geron stem cell assets, $40 million of BioTime stock, certain BioTime stem cell assets, and shares of certain BioTime stem cell units. Geron shareholders would also receive BioTime stock-purchase warrants presently valued at about $13 million. Geron shareholders would continue to own the entire Geron cancer therapy business through their ownership of Geron stock.