ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 24, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASTM), the leading developer of patient-specific expanded cellular therapies for the treatment of severe diseases and conditions, today announced the initiation of commercial sales of bone marrow by Marrow Donation, LLC, the company's wholly owned bone marrow collection center located in San Diego, CA.

Aastrom founded Marrow Donation to provide high-quality bone marrow for internal research and development purposes. The company previously announced plans to expand its efforts at Marrow Donation to target the growing market for bone marrow and bone marrow-derived cells for research and development purposes across the biopharmaceutical industry.  

"The initiation of commercial supply of bone marrow from Marrow Donation is an important step in our plan to create value by strategically leveraging our existing assets," said Nick Colangelo, president and CEO at Aastrom. "Based on the increasing interest in using bone marrow-derived cells for research purposes, this represents a promising new business platform for Aastrom."

About Marrow Donation, LLC

Marrow Donation, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aastrom Biosciences, is a bone marrow donation center located in San Diego, CA.  Marrow Donation supplies human bone marrow from healthy donors to bioresearch product distributors and research organizations for use in the development of novel medical therapies and products. 

About Aastrom Biosciences

Aastrom Biosciences is the leader in developing patient-specific expanded cellular therapies for use in the treatment of patients with severe diseases and conditions. Aastrom markets two autologous cell therapy products in the United States for the treatment of cartilage repair and skin replacement. Aastrom is also developing MACI, a third generation autologous chondrocyte implant for the treatment of cartilage defects in the knee, and ixmyelocel-T, a patient-specific multicellular therapy for the treatment of advanced heart failure due to ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. 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 the anticipated market for bone marrow and bone marrow-derived cells, intended product development, and objectives and expectations regarding the business opportunity described herein, 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 risks and uncertainties associated with competitive developments, product development activities, the availability and allocation of resources among different potential uses, market demand for bone marrow and bone marrow-derived cells for research purposes, and our ability to supply or meet customer demand for bone marrow and bone-marrow derived cells. These and other significant factors are discussed in greater detail in Aastrom's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 13, 2014, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC. 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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