HAIFA, Israel, Jan. 22, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pluristem Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:PSTI) (TASE:PLTR), a leading developer of placenta-based cell therapies, announced today that Senior Scientists at Pluristem will be presenting updated developments relating to the company's proprietary 3D cell expansion technology. These innovations will be implemented in Pluristem's new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for expansion of placental-derived mesenchymal-like Adherent Stromal Cells (ASCs).

The presentations will take place at Engineering Conferences International's Scale-Up and Manufacturing of Cell-Based Therapies II Conference to be held January 21-23, 2013 at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina in San Diego, California.

Ohad Karnieli PhD, MBA and VP of Development at Pluristem will give an oral presentation entitled, "Bioreactors in Cell Therapy, the Advantages of High-Throughput Culturing Technologies and the Downstream Challenges". During this talk, Dr. Karnieli will present Pluristem's new production line and demonstrate how the company has drawn on its vast experience in high-throughput culturing to solve many of the problems related to the mass production of ASCs. Dr. Karnieli's presentation will be made available at the company's website http://www.pluristem.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=114 for the next 30 days.

Eytan Abraham PhD and Product Innovation Research Manager at Pluristem will give a poster presentation entitled, "From Gene Expression to In Vivo Models - Characterization and Potential Therapeutic Properties of Placenta Derived Mesenchymal-Like Adherent Stromal Cells". In this poster, Dr. Abraham will be addressing the specific changes that occur in gene regulation and protein secretion when ASCs are grown in a 3D culturing phase and the biological changes and therapeutic advantages of implementing this technology in the mass expansion of ASCs use.

About Pluristem Therapeutics

Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:PSTI) (TASE:PLTR) is a leading developer of placenta-based cell therapies. The Company's patented PLX (PLacental eXpanded) cells are a drug delivery platform that releases a cocktail of therapeutic proteins in response to a host of local and systemic inflammatory and ischemic diseases. PLX cells are grown using the company's proprietary 3D micro-environmental technology and are an "off-the-shelf" product that requires no tissue matching prior to administration. Pluristem is focusing on the development of PLX cells administered locally to potentially treat systemic diseases and potentially obviating the need to use the intravenous route.

Pluristem has a strong patent and patent applications portfolio, company-owned GMP certified manufacturing and research facilities, strategic relationships with major research institutions and a seasoned management team. For more information visit www.pluristem.com, the content of which is not part of this press release.

The Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6882

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and federal securities laws. For example, we are using forward-looking statements when we discuss that developments relating to the our proprietary 3D cell expansion technology will be implemented in our new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for expansion of placental-derived-like Adherent Stromal Cells (ASCs). These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of the management of Pluristem only, and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: changes in technology and market requirements; we may encounter delays or obstacles in launching and/or successfully completing our clinical trials; our products may not be approved by regulatory agencies, our technology may not be validated as we progress further and our methods may not be accepted by the scientific community; we may be unable to retain or attract key employees whose knowledge is essential to the development of our products; unforeseen scientific difficulties may develop with our process; our products may wind up being more expensive than we anticipate; results in the laboratory may not translate to equally good results in real surgical settings; results of preclinical studies may not correlate with the results of human clinical trials; our patents may not be sufficient; our products may harm recipients; changes in legislation; inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications; loss of market share and pressure on pricing resulting from competition, which could cause the actual results or performance of Pluristem to differ materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise required by law, Pluristem undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. For a more detailed description of the risks and uncertainties affecting Pluristem, reference is made to Pluristem's reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.