Aastrom Biosciences hires 5 people in Ann Arbor

Aastrom Biosciences was spinning off from the University of Michigan before it was the en vogue thing to do in Michigan.

The Ann Arbor-based company spun off of U-M research 20 years ago and is now a publicly traded company with 45 employees and a couple of interns. It also hired five people within the last year and expects to add more as it seeks funding for its research projects.

"A lot of our hiring has been on the clinical operations side," says George Dunbar, CEO for Aastrom Biosciences.

Right now the company, based near Domino's Farms, is working on a unique form of stem cell research. The new technology would take stem cells from the patient, grow them and then give them back to the patient to help fight disease.

"The hope is we can resist or retard some diseases like congested heart failure," Dunbar says.

Aastrom Biosciences also has a couple of promising research programs on hold it hopes to restart this year with new funding. They include treatment for spinal cord injuries and repairing broken bones that are not easily healed.

Source: George Dunbar, CEO for Aastrom Biosciences
Writer: Jon Zemke