The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine Announces Second Annual State of the Industry Briefing and Regenerative Medicine Insight Track at Biotech Showcase

– December 15, 2011

WASHINGTON, DC, December 15, 2011 – The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), the international organization representing the interests of the regenerative medicine community, today announced that the second annual State of the Industry Briefing will take place on January 10, 2012 in San Francisco. A full day of panels focused on several disease areas will follow the briefing as part of the Regenerative Medicine Insight track at the Biotech Showcase 2012. The panels will be moderated by key analysts in the sector.

The Regenerative Medicine State of the Industry Briefing will focus on recent developments and the future outlook for the cell therapy and regenerative medicine industries. Speakers will include Gil Van Bokkelen, CEO of Athersys; Silviu Itescu, CEO of Mesoblast; Tim Mayleben, CEO of Aaastrom; Gary Rabin, CEO of Advanced Cell Therapy; Dr. Robin Smith, CEO of NeoStem and senior executives from large pharmaceutical companies.  The panels will cover the outlook for the industry, a review of pipelines and clinical trials, and a general discussion of critical success factors including technology advancements, regulatory issues and the financial outlook for the sector.

A series of analyst-led, therapeutic area focused panels will follow the briefing. The panels will discuss therapeutic categories where regenerative medicine holds great promise including cardiology and ischemic related disease, spinal injury, ophthalmology, metabolic disease, and central nervous system disorders as well as an exploration in cell based solutions in immunology and oncology.  The panels will be moderated by analysts from Rodman & Renshaw, Piper Jaffray, JMP Securities, ROTH Capital Partners, and WBB Securities and feature participation from more than 25 companies including:

Aastrom, Advanced BioHealing/Shire, Advanced Cell Technology, Aldagen, Athersys, Cytori, Healthpoint, ISTO Technologies, Maxcyte, Mesoblast, Neostem, Organovo, ReNeuron, SanBio, StemCells, Inc., Tengion and Tigenix.

“We are excited to once again bring together many of the leading experts in the regenerative medicine field to report on the progress made during 2011 and provide an outlook for 2012 and beyond,” said Gil Van Bokkelen, PhD, Chairman of ARM and CEO of Athersys. “Based on the significant response to the meeting last year, it’s clear that recognition of the near-term therapeutic promise of regenerative medicine is growing, and this event represents a great opportunity for investors and others to hear from industry leaders and gain insight into the tremendous potential of the field.”

This event was developed by the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, and will be held as part of the Biotech Showcase 2012 conference taking place at the Park 55 Wyndham in San Francisco beginning at 8:00 a.m. To learn more and to register for the conference, please contact Rob Margolin at (646) 201-4192.  Registration is complimentary for credentialed members of the media and the investment community. The State of the Industry briefing is open to the public, but attendance at the disease panels will require registration for individuals without press or investor credentials.

The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) is a Washington, DC-based non-profit organization that promotes legislative, regulatory, reimbursement, and financing initiatives necessary to facilitate access to life-giving advances in regenerative medicine. ARM also works to increase public understanding of the field and its potential to transform human healthcare, and provides services to support the growth of its member companies and organizations. Prior to the formation of ARM, there was no advocacy organization operating in Washington, DC to specifically represent the interests of regenerative medicine companies, research institutions, investors, and patient groups supporting more rapid adoption of technologies in our field. To learn more about ARM or to become a member, visit www.alliancerm.org.