ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 3, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASTM), the leading developer of patient-specific, expanded multicellular therapies for the treatment of severe, chronic cardiovascular diseases, today announced that the New York Academy of Sciences symposium "Advances in Adult Stem Cell Therapy in Tissue Repair for Cardiovascular Diseases" will feature researchers from Aastrom Biosciences and other research leaders in adult stem cell therapy. The symposium will take place at the New York Academy of Sciences at 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich St., 40^th floor, New York, NY on Wednesday, November 30, 2011, from 12:30 to 4:30 pm.

Researchers scheduled to present at the symposium include:

• Ronnda Bartel, PhD, chief scientific officer, Aastrom Biosciences;
• Arnold I. Caplan, PhD, professor of biology and general medicine services, Case Western Reserve University;
• Louis Messina, MD, chief of vascular and endovascular surgery, UMass Memorial Medical Center;
• Iraklis Pipinos, MD, PhD, associate professor, department of surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center; and
• Sharon Watling, PharmD, vice president, clinical and regulatory, Aastrom Biosciences.

The symposium will include updates on several recent preclinical and clinical research programs involving the use of adult stem cells to treat cardiovascular disease. Researchers are assessing the ability of regenerative medicine therapies to rebuild or restore the structure and function of damaged or diseased tissue associated with dilated cardiomyopathy and other forms of cardiovascular disease. A variety of autologous or allogeneic stem cell therapies are positioned to be evaluated in pivotal, randomized Phase 3 trials in the near future.

For more information or to register for the symposium, please visit www.nyas.org/AdultStemCells.

About Aastrom Biosciences

Aastrom Biosciences is the leader in developing patient-specific, expanded multicellular therapies for use in the treatment of patients with severe, chronic cardiovascular diseases. The company's proprietary cell-processing technology enables the manufacture of ixmyelocel-T, a patient-specific multicellular therapy expanded from a patient's own bone marrow and delivered directly to damaged tissues. Aastrom has advanced ixmyelocel-T into late-stage clinical development, including a planned Phase 3 clinical program to study patients with critical limb ischemia and two Phase 2 clinical trials in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. For more information, please visit Aastrom's website at www.aastrom.com.

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About the New York Academy of Sciences

The New York Academy of Sciences is an independent, not-for-profit organization committed to advancing science, technology, and society worldwide since 1817. With 25,000 members in 140 countries, the Academy is creating a global community of science for the benefit of humanity. The Academy's core mission is to advance scientific knowledge, positively impact the major global challenges of society with science-based solutions, and increase the number of scientifically informed individuals in society at large. Please visit us online at www.nyas.org.

This document contains forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements concerning clinical trial plans and progress, objectives and expectations, clinical activity timing, intended product development, the performance and contribution of certain individuals and expected timing of collecting and analyzing treatment data, all of which involve certain risks and uncertainties. These statements are often, but are not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "anticipates," "intends," "estimates," "plans," "expects," "we believe," "we intend," and similar words or phrases, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "potential," "could," "may," or similar expressions. Actual results may differ significantly from the expectations contained in the forward-looking statements. Among the factors that may result in differences are the inherent uncertainties associated with clinical trial and product development activities, regulatory approval requirements, competitive developments, and the availability of resources and the allocation of resources among different potential uses. These and other significant factors are discussed in greater detail in Aastrom's Annual or Transition Report on Form 10-K or 10-K/T, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements reflect management's current views and Aastrom does not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect a change in its views or events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release except as required by law.

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