Capricor Therapeutics to Present at Two Upcoming Investor Conferences

LOS ANGELES, March 10, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Capricor Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCBB:CAPR) today announced that Chief Executive Officer Dr. Linda Marbán is scheduled to present at the 26^th Annual ROTH Conference, being held March 9-12, 2014 in Dana Point, Calif., and the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine's 2^nd Annual Regen Med Investor Day on March 26, 2014 in New York, N.Y.

During her presentations, Dr. Marbán will discuss Capricor's business and growth strategy, clinical developments of its lead heart failure candidate, CAP-1002, and developmental pipeline. CAP-1002 is an allogeneic cardiosphere-derived cell (CDC) therapeutic under evaluation in patients who have suffered a large myocardial infarction (MI). Dr. Marbán will also discuss recent milestones, including the Company's collaboration and exclusive license option agreement with Janssen Biotech, as well as providing an update on the currently enrolling ALLSTAR Phase I/II clinical trial of CAP-1002, designed to determine the safety and efficacy of CAP-1002 in decreasing infarct size in patients who have suffered an MI.  

One of the largest of its kind in the United States, the ROTH conference features presentations from hundreds of growth companies and is designed to provide investors with a unique opportunity to gain insight into emerging growth companies across a variety of industry sectors, including healthcare.

Organized by the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) in partnership with financial firms Maxim Group and Piper Jaffray, the one-day Regen Med investor conference focuses exclusively on the regenerative medicine and advanced therapies sector. The program will include talks by key opinion leaders in the industry, life science investment experts and analysts as well as presentations by more than 30 leading companies from across the globe.

Details of the two presentations are as follows:

For those unable to attend the ROTH Conference, a live webcast of Dr. Marbán's presentation will be available on the Company's website at www.capricor.com. Following her presentation, this webcast will be archived for 90 days.

For those unable to attend ARM's Regen Med Investor Day, a live webcast of all panels and company presentations will be available at http://www.arminvestorday.com/webcast and will be published on the event's website shortly after the conference.

About Capricor Therapeutics

Capricor Therapeutics, Inc. (CAPR), a publicly traded biotechnology company, is focused on the development of novel therapeutics to prevent and treat heart disease. The Company has two leading product candidates: CAP-1002 and Cenderitide. The Company was formed through the November 2013 merger between Capricor, Inc., a privately held company whose mission is to improve the treatment of heart disease by commercializing cardiac stem cell therapies for patients, and Nile Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative products for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Capricor Therapeutics' stock began trading under the symbol "CAPR" December 20, 2013. For additional information visit www.capricor.com.

About CAP-1002

CAP-1002, Capricor's lead product candidate, is a proprietary allogeneic adult stem cell therapy for the treatment of heart disease. The product is derived from donor heart tissue. The cells are expanded in the laboratory using a specialized process and then introduced directly into a patient's heart via infusion into a coronary artery using standard cardiac catheterization techniques.

CAP-1002 is currently not an approved product and is strictly for investigational purposes.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release regarding the efficacy, safety, and intended utilization of Capricor's product candidates; the conduct, size, timing and results of discovery efforts and clinical trials; plans regarding regulatory filings, future research and clinical trials; plans regarding current and future collaborative activities and the ownership of commercial rights; future royalty streams, and any other statements about Capricor's management team's future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words "believes," "plans," "could," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates," "plans," "should," "target," "will," "would" and similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. More information about these and other risks that may impact our business are set forth in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 21, 2013, in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2013, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 14, 2013, and in our Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 10, 2013. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

CONTACT: Capricor Therapeutics, Inc.
         AJ Bergmann, VP of Finance
         +1-310-358-3200
         abergmann@capricor.com

         The Ruth Group
         Lee Roth (investors)
         lroth@theruthgroup.com
         (646) 536-7012

         Kirsten Thomas (media)
         kthomas@theruthgroup.com
         (646) 536-7014

Released March 10, 2014