CARY, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Aldagen, Inc. has received CEO Cancer Gold Standardâ„¢ accreditation, recognizing the company's commitment to taking concrete actions to reduce the cancer risk of its employees and their families through screenings, early detection, and healthy changes in lifestyle and in the workplace.

William C. Weldon, chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson & Johnson, chairs the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, a nonprofit organization of cancer-fighting CEOs who created the CEO Cancer Gold Standardâ„¢, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, many of its designated cancer centers, and leading health non-profit organizations and professionals.

"We are proud of the leadership that Aldagen's CEO, Tom Amick, has demonstrated in his commitment to achieving CEO Cancer Gold Standard certification," said Weldon. "Our Gold Standard recognizes that Aldagen's work in developing novel biopharmaceuticals to improve health begins with a commitment to provide world-class health and wellness benefits for its employees and their family members."

The CEO Cancer Gold Standardâ„¢ calls for companies to evaluate their health benefits and corporate culture and take extensive, concrete actions in five key areas of health and wellness to fight cancer in the workplace. To earn Gold Standard accreditation, a company must establish programs to reduce cancer risk by discouraging tobacco use; encouraging physical activity; promoting healthy diet and nutrition; detecting cancer at its earliest stages; and providing access to quality care, including participation in clinical trials. Aldagen is the 44th organization to become Gold Standard accredited. Currently, more than one million lives are covered through Gold Standard employers.

Other organizations joining Aldagen in championing this workplace-based effort to eliminate cancer as a public health threat include: Aetna, the American Cancer Society, the American Legacy Foundation, the American Society of Clincial Oncology, Aptuit, AstraZeneca, C-Change, Cigna, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Duke Medicine, Edelman, Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Fox Chase Cancer Center, GHI (an EmblemHealth company), GlaxoSmithKline, Hogan & Hartson, Independence Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Jenner & Block, Johnson & Johnson, The Lance Armstrong Foundation, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, Meridian Health, Minot State University, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, The National Cancer Institute, Novartis, The Oncology Nursing Society, OSI Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, PhRMA, PPD, Pride, Inc., Quintiles Transnational, sanofi-aventis, SAS Institute, State Farm, The University of North Dakota, US Oncology, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Virtua Health and The Wistar Institute.

About Aldagen, Inc.

Aldagen is a biopharmaceutical company developing proprietary regenerative cell therapies that target significant unmet medical needs. The company's most advanced product candidates are ALD-101, ALD-301 and ALD-201. Aldagen is currently conducting a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of ALD-101 to evaluate its efficacy in improving engraftment following umbilical cord blood transplants used to treat inherited metabolic diseases in pediatric patients. The company also intends to commence a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of ALD-301 in 2010 to evaluate its efficacy in treating critical limb ischemia and is developing ALD-201 for the treatment of ischemic heart failure. Aldagen is pursuing the development of additional product candidates based on the company's proprietary technology for isolating adult stem cells that express high levels of ALDH, including product candidates to improve engraftment following cord blood transplants used to treat leukemias, for the treatment of inherited metabolic diseases and for the post-acute treatment of ischemic stroke.

About The CEO Roundtable on Cancer

The CEO Roundtable on Cancer was founded in 2001, when former President George H.W. Bush challenged a group of executives to "do something bold and venturesome about cancer within your own corporate families." The CEOs responded with the CEO Cancer Gold Standard encouraging its widespread adoption in workplaces across the country. For more information on the CEO Cancer Gold Standardâ„¢ and the accreditation process, please visit www.CancerGoldStandard.org.