ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 20, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASTM), the leading developer of autologous cellular therapies for the treatment of severe cardiovascular diseases, today announced the appointments of Sharon Watling, Pharm.D., as vice president, clinical and regulatory, and Ronnda L. Bartel, Ph.D., formerly vice president of technical operations, as chief scientific officer.

Dr. Watling will coordinate and manage all aspects of the continued clinical development of Aastrom products including the cardiac and vascular programs now positioned to advance to further late-stage development. Previously she worked in clinical development at Pfizer and at Warner-Lambert/Parke Davis prior to its acquisition by Pfizer. She was also site leader and senior director of clinical development at Metabasis and research and strategy development leader at Cognigen Corporation. Dr. Watling also has more than 10 years of experience as an intensive care unit clinical specialist and maintains adjunct faculty appointments at several academic institutions.

In her new role, Dr. Bartel will be responsible for all company research, development, manufacturing and engineering operations. A 20-year veteran of the stem cell research and product development field, Dr. Bartel was involved in the development and approval of some of the first cell-based products approved by the FDA.

Elmar R. Burchardt, M.D., Ph.D., formerly vice president of medical affairs, is leaving the company's management team to pursue other professional opportunities but will continue to serve as a company advisor.

"We warmly welcome Sharon to our management team and congratulate Ronnda on her new role. We also want to thank Elmar for his years of service to Aastrom, and we look forward to having his continued counsel as an advisor for our clinical programs. These appointments reflect the talents of our team and will enable us to expedite the late-stage clinical development of our autologous cellular therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases including DCM and CLI," said Tim Mayleben, president and CEO of Aastrom.

About Aastrom Biosciences

Aastrom Biosciences is developing autologous cellular therapies for use in the treatment of severe cardiovascular diseases. The company's proprietary cell-processing technology enables the production of cellular therapies using a patient's own bone marrow that can be delivered directly to damaged tissues. Aastrom has advanced this technology into late-stage clinical development and is conducting two Phase 2 clinical trials to treat dilated cardiomyopathy and a Phase 2b clinical trial to treat critical limb ischemia. For more information, please visit Aastrom's website at www.aastrom.com.

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This document contains forward-looking statements, including without limitation, statements concerning clinical trial plans, objectives and expectations, clinical activity timing, intended product development, disease treatment and progression, patient symptoms and responses to treatment, treatment options 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 Report on Form 10-K, 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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