ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 14, 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 appointment of Zac Taylor as national sales director.

"We are thrilled to have Zac join Aastrom as our national sales director. He has an impressive track record in both new product launches as well as reinvigorating established brands," said Daniel Orlando, chief operating officer of Aastrom. "Zac's proven skill set will be of great value to Aastrom as we continue to develop our talented team and work to realize the commercial potential of Carticel and Epicel and prepare for the eventual launch of MACI in the U.S."

Mr. Taylor has over 22 years of experience in pharmaceutical and medical device sales and marketing, leading numerous commercial organizations with a consistent record of increasing revenue, market share and profitability in both start-ups and established corporate environments. Mr. Taylor previously served as national sales director for Abbott, where his leadership of the U.S. commercial sales organization significantly improved growth and profitability. As a regional business director at Pfizer, he consistently met sales goals across several teams, and earned many distinctions and awards for his work. Mr. Taylor also helped build and lead the commercial organization at Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America in a variety of sales and marketing leadership roles. Mr. Taylor earned an MBA from St. Joseph's University and a bachelor of arts in business communications from the University of Oklahoma.

"I am excited to join an organization which is marketing and developing pioneering cell based therapies. I am confident there is significant growth potential remaining in both Carticel and Epicel, and I look forward to working with the regarded Aastrom sales and marketing organization to expand the usage of these products, each of which offers unique benefits to patients not available from other therapies," said Mr. Taylor.

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 anticipated progress, objectives and expectations regarding the commercial potential of our products and growth in revenues, 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, estimating the commercial potential of our products and growth in revenues, market demand for our products, and our ability to supply or meet customer demand for our products. 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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