ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 2, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASTM), the leading developer of patient-specific, expanded multicellular therapies for the treatment of severe, chronic cardiovascular diseases, will hold a second quarter investor call on Tuesday, August 7, 2012 at 4:30 pm (EDT). Dr. Grayson Wheatley, III, MD, FACS, of the Arizona Heart Institute, will join Aastrom's senior management on the call to discuss his experience treating patients with critical limb ischemia and his participation in Aastrom's clinical development programs for CLI.

The conference call will be available live in the Investors section of the Aastrom website at http://investors.vcel.com/events.cfm. Please access the site at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time in order to download the required audio software if necessary.

To participate in the live call by telephone, please call (877) 312-5881 and reference Aastrom Biosciences second quarter 2012 investor conference call. If calling from outside the U.S., please use the international phone number (253) 237-1173. 

If you are unable to participate during the live call, the webcast will be available at http://investors.vcel.com/events.cfm until August 7, 2013. A replay of the call will also be available until 11:59 pm (EDT) on August 11, 2012 by calling (855) 859-2056, or from outside the U.S. at (404) 537-3406. The conference ID is 14739857. 

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 Phase 3 clinical program to study patients with critical limb ischemia and a planned Phase 2b clinical trial in patients with ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. For more information, please visit Aastrom's website at www.aastrom.com. For more information on the pivotal REVIVE Phase 3 clinical trial, please visit the trial website at www.revivecli.com.

The Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3663

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 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.

CONTACT: Media contact

         Andrea Coan

         Berry & Company

         acoan@berrypr.com

         (212) 253-8881

         

         Investor contact

         Danielle Spangler

         The Trout Group

         dspangler@troutgroup.com

         (646) 378-2924