ANN ARBOR ? Stem cell company Aastrom Biosciences announced Thursday plans to change its corporate name to Vericel Corporation and move its corporate headquarters from Ann Arbor to Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“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 corporate name change is subject to the approval of Aastrom’s shareholders. Aastrom will continue to maintain manufacturing facilities in Cambridge and Ann Arbor, the company said in a press release. The company employs close to 200 people in Ann Arbor.
“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,? Colangelo said.
Aastrom was formed in 1989, and went public in 1997. Interestingly enough, the headquarters move comes less than a month after Aastrom raised $40.3 million by offering 15.7 million shares of its stock at a price of $2.55. The offering boosted the company’s liquidity amid concerns about its cash flow.
Aastrom cellular therapies are used 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 implantation product for the treatment of focal chondral 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.
