Acceleron Pharma Doubles Laboratory and Manufacturing Space and Increases Headcount by 40%

Acceleron Pharma Doubles Laboratory and Manufacturing Space and Increases Headcount by 40%

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Acceleron Pharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics that modulate the growth of tissues including bone and muscle, today announced that as part of its rapid growth and expansion it is increasing headcount by nearly 40% and doubling the size of its administrative, laboratory and manufacturing facilities in Cambridge, Mass.

* Acceleron is hiring staff across essentially all functions leading to a nearly 40% increase in headcount during 2008 * The lease of an additional 37,500 sq. ft. doubles the company's administrative, laboratory and manufacturing space in Cambridge, Mass. In this new space, Acceleron will build its second GMP protein manufacturing facility

"The growth in headcount and facilities at Acceleron is driven by the remarkable growth and advancement of our expanding pipeline", said John Knopf, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer at Acceleron. "We are proud to grow our organization in Cambridge as we seek to hire the most talented and energetic people who are committed to creating a highly successful company."

Acceleron expects to begin phase 2a studies with ACE-011 later this year. The company also plans to bring its second and third programs into the clinic by the end of 2008 - the ACE-031 program for increasing skeletal muscle mass and strength and the ACE-041 program, a novel angiogenesis inhibitor that blocks the blood vessel maturation process.

About Acceleron

Acceleron is a privately held biopharmaceutical company committed to discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize novel biotherapeutics that modulate the growth of bone, muscle, fat and the vasculature to treat musculoskeletal, metabolic and cancer-related diseases. Acceleron's scientific approach takes advantage of its unique insight into the regenerative powers of two protein families: the Growth and Differentiation Factors (GDFs) and Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs). ACE-011, a novel bone forming agent, is the Company's lead program and is being developed to reverse bone loss in diseases such as cancer-related bone loss. In addition, the company is advancing through pre-clinical development product candidates that increase muscle mass, control angiogenesis and inhibit fat accumulation. Acceleron utilizes proven biotherapeutic technologies and capitalizes on the company's internal GMP manufacturing capability to rapidly and efficiently advance its therapeutic programs. The investors in Acceleron are Advanced Technology Ventures, Bessemer Ventures, Flagship Ventures, MPM BioEquities, OrbiMed Advisors, Polaris Ventures, QVT Financial, Sutter Hill Ventures and Venrock. For more information, visit www.acceleronpharma.com.