Acceleron Pharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics that modulate the growth of tissues including bone and muscle, announced that as part of its rapid growth and expansion it is increasing headcount by nearly 40 per cent and doubling the size of its administrative, laboratory and manufacturing facilities in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Acceleron is hiring staff across essentially all functions leading to a nearly 40 per cent 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, Massachusetts. 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 IIa 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 programme for increasing skeletal muscle mass and strength and the ACE-041 programme, a novel angiogenesis inhibitor that blocks the blood vessel maturation process. 1