ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 14, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASTM), the leading developer of autologous cellular therapies for the treatment of severe cardiovascular diseases, today announced the initiation of an extension study for control patients from the company’s ongoing open-label Phase 2 IMPACT-DCM clinical trial in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). The extension study is designed to offer control-group patients from the IMPACT-DCM trial the opportunity to receive treatment with an expanded mixture of their own bone marrow-derived stem and progenitor cells after completing at least 6 months of follow-up.