Aastrom Biosciences Announces Plans To Change Name To Vericel Corporation And Move Headquarters To Cambridge, Massachusetts

Aastrom Biosciences, Inc.

, a leading developer of patient-specific expanded cellular therapies for the treatment of severe diseases and conditions, today announced plans to change its corporate name to Vericel Corporation and move its corporate headquarters to Cambridge, Massachusetts. The corporate name change is subject to the approval of Aastrom's shareholders. Aastrom will continue to maintain manufacturing facilities in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Ann Arbor, Michigan. "The proposed name change and plan to move our headquarters to Cambridge are the next steps in the transformation of Aastrom from a clinical-stage company to a fully integrated, commercial-stage specialty biologics company," said Nick Colangelo, Aastrom's president and chief executive officer. "The new corporate name reflects our leading position in the cell therapy market, and our expanded presence in the vibrant Cambridge biotechnology community will increase our access to both talent and technology as we continue to grow our company, maximize the potential of our two U.S. marketed products, Carticel® and Epicel®, and bring our late-stage product candidates, MACI™ and ixmyelocel-T, to market."