Lead Plaintiffs and Class Representatives Julia Junge and Richard Junge Announce Proposed Settlement in the Geron Securities Litigation

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SUMMARY NOTICE OF (I) PROPOSED SETTLEMENT AND PLAN OF ALLOCATION; (II) SETTLEMENT FAIRNESS HEARING; AND (III) MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS' FEES AND LITIGATION EXPENSES AND SERVICE AWARDS TO LEAD PLAINTIFFS

To: All persons who purchased Geron Corporation ("Geron") common stock during the period from March 19, 2018, to September 26, 2018, inclusive (the "Class Period"), and who were damaged thereby (the "Class").¹

PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY, YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE SETTLEMENT OF A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT PENDING IN THIS COURT.

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and an Order of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, that the Court-appointed Lead Plaintiffs and Class Representatives, Julia Junge and Richard Junge, on behalf of themselves and the Court-certified Class in the above-captioned securities class action (the "Action"), have reached a proposed settlement of the Action with defendants Geron Corporation ("Geron") and John A. Scarlett ("Scarlett", and together with Geron, the "Defendants") for $24,000,000 ($17,000,000 in cash, and $7,000,000 in Settlement Stock and/or cash, at Geron's option).²  The Court has given preliminary approval to the Settlement, but has invited your comments and objections and would like to take into account the Class members' views of the Settlement before making a final decision on March 30, 2023.  If the Settlement is approved by the Court, it will resolve and dismiss with prejudice all claims in the Action.

A Settlement Fairness Hearing will be held on March 30, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time, before the Honorable William Alsup, either in person at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Courthouse, Courtroom 12 - 19th Floor, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102, or by telephone or videoconference (in the discretion of the Court) to determine: (i) whether the proposed Settlement should be approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (ii) whether the Action should be dismissed with prejudice against Defendants, and the Releases specified and described in the Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement ("Stipulation") dated September 2, 2022 should be granted³; (iii) whether the proposed Plan of Allocation should be approved as fair and reasonable; and (iv) whether Lead Counsel's application for an award of attorneys' fees and payment of Litigation Expenses should be approved, as well as the application for service awards to the Lead Plaintiffs.

Lead Counsel Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP (also serving as Court-appointed Class Counsel), has been prosecuting the Action on a wholly contingent basis, has not received any payment of attorneys' fees for their representation of the Class and have advanced the funds to pay Litigation Expenses necessarily incurred to prosecute the Action. Lead Counsel will apply to the Court for an award of attorneys' fees in an amount not to exceed 18% of the Settlement Fund, or $4.32 million, plus interest. In addition, Lead Counsel will apply for payment of Litigation Expenses in connection with the institution, prosecution, and resolution of the Action in an amount not to exceed $1,140,000.  Lead Counsel will also apply for up to $12,500 in total service award payments for the Lead Plaintiffs.  Any fees, Litigation Expenses and/or service awards approved by the Court will be paid solely from the Settlement Fund. Class Members are not personally liable for any such fees, Litigation Expenses or service awards.  The estimated average cost for such fees, awards and expenses, if the Court approves Lead Counsel's fee and expense application, including the service awards to the Lead Plaintiffs, is $0.04 per affected share.  Based on Lead Plaintiffs' damages expert's estimate of the number of shares of Geron common stock purchased during the Class Period that may have been affected by the conduct at issue in the Action, and assuming that all Class Members elect to participate in the Settlement, the estimated average recovery (before the deduction of any Court-approved fees, Litigation Expenses, awards and costs as described herein) is $0.17 per affected share.

If you purchased Geron common stock during the Class Period and are a member of the Class, your rights will be affected by the pending Settlement of the Action, and you may be entitled to a payment from the Net Settlement Fund. If you have not yet received the full printed Notice of (I) Proposed Settlement and Plan of Allocation; (II) Settlement Hearing; and (III) Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Litigation Expenses and Service Awards to Lead Plaintiffs (the "Settlement Notice") and the Claim Form, you may obtain copies of these documents by contacting the Claims Administrator at Geron Securities Litigation, c/o Epiq Class Action & Claims Solutions, P.O. Box 4574, Portland, OR 97208-4574, 1-844-754-5537, or at [email protected].  Copies of the Settlement Notice and Claim Form can also be downloaded from the website for the Action, www.GeronSecuritiesLitigation.com.  The Settlement Notice and Claim Form may also be viewed on www.kaplanfox.com through the date of the Settlement Fairness Hearing.

If you are a Class Member, in order to be eligible to receive a payment under the proposed Settlement, you must submit a Claim Form either online to the Claims Administrator at www.GeronSecuritiesLitigation.com or send it by First-Class U.S. mail (and if mailed, postmarked) by no later than midnight Pacific Time on February 16, 2023, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Settlement Notice. If you are a Class Member and do not submit a Claim Form with all required information and supporting documentation, you will not be eligible to share in the distribution of the Net Settlement Fund, but you will nevertheless be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court in the Action, including the Releases specified and described in the Stipulation and Settlement Notice.

If you are a member of the Class and wish to exclude yourself from the Class, you must submit a request for exclusion and submit it either online to the Claims Administrator at www.GeronSecuritiesLitigation.com or send it by First-Class U.S. mail (and if mailed, postmarked)  by no later than March 9, 2023 at midnight Pacific Time, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Settlement Notice, unless you have previously submitted a request for exclusion in response to the Original Class Notice. If you properly exclude yourself from the Class, you will not be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court in the Action and you will not be eligible to share in the proceeds of the Settlement or to object to the Settlement.

Any objections to the proposed Settlement, the proposed Plan of Allocation, and/or Class Counsel's application for attorneys' fees and payment of Litigation Expenses or service awards to Lead Plaintiffs, must be received by the Court no later than March 9, 2023 at midnight Pacific Time (the "Objection Deadline"), in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Settlement Notice, which provides options available at the Court for Class Members to file the objections electronically on the docket for the Action by the Objection Deadline, to visit locations of the Court to file the objections by the Objection Deadline, or to mail the objections to a designated contact point and address at the Court, with the mailing postmarked by the Objection Deadline.

Please do not contact the Court, the Clerk's office, Defendants, or Defendants' Counsel regarding this notice. All questions about this notice, the proposed Settlement, or your eligibility to participate in the Settlement should be directed to the Claims Administrator or Class Counsel. 

Please note that the Court may change the date and time of the Settlement Fairness Hearing without further notice to the Class, and Class Members should check www.GeronSecuritiesLitigation.com or the Court's PACER website to confirm that the hearing date has not been changed.  Information and further guidance on how to access the Court's case docket or PACER is contained in the Settlement Notice.  You may also visit Judge Alsup's webpage on the Northern District of California website at https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/judges/alsup-william-wha/, where there is a link to view the schedule for upcoming hearings and other information.

Requests for the Settlement Notice and Claim Form should be made to:

Geron Securities Litigation
c/o Epiq Class Action & Claims Solutions
P.O. Box 4574
Portland, OR 97208-4574
1-844-754-5537

Inquiries, other than requests for the Settlement Notice and Claim Form should be made to Lead/ Class Counsel:

Laurence D. King, Esq.
KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP
1999 Harrison Street, Suite 1560
Oakland, CA 94612
1-800-290-1952
[email protected]

Jeffrey P. Campisi, Esq.
KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP
850 Third Avenue, 14^th Floor
New York, NY 10022
1-800-290-1952
[email protected]

By Order of the Court
United States District Court
Northern District of California

Questions? Visit www.GeronSecuritiesLitigation.com or call 1-844-754-5537

SOURCE Julia Junge and Richard Junge
Contact: www.GeronSecuritiesLitigation.com

SOURCE Julia Junge and Richard Junge