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Acceleron Pharma expands nearly 20,000SF in Cambridge
Posted May 1, 2009
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-based Acceleron Pharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, has signed a lease on a third facility in Cambridge, further expanding its laboratory and office space by an additional 19,700 sq. ft. at 12 Emily Street.
The lease of an additional 19,700 sq. ft. consists of additional research laboratories and office space. This is the third property the company will occupy in its Cambridge campus, which has more than doubled in size since April, 2008.
The announcement was made at the ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the recent completion of Acceleron's second facility that houses its new corporate headquarters and its second GMP protein manufacturing facility. Acceleron plans to increase its workforce by more than 50% in 2009 to support the continuing growth of its R&D and manufacturing activities. Dignitaries at the ribbon-cutting ceremony included Timothy Murray, Massachusetts Lt. Governor, Gregory Bialecki, Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and Robert Coughlin, President and CEO of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.
Acceleron acknowledged during the event that the company has benefited by locating its facilities in the heart of the biotech hub in Cambridge. In recognition and demonstrating its continuing commitment to the local community, Acceleron announced it will be making a $5,000 charitable contribution to the Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House, a local organization that provides crucial services for residents of Area IV, one of the most densely-populated and low-income neighborhoods in Cambridge. The contribution will provide scholarships for young children to participate in enrichment programs to encourage growth and leadership development.
Acceleron's lead program, ACE-011 is currently in phase 2 studies in multiple myeloma patients with osteolytic bone disease. ACE-011 has been shown to increase bone mineral density and red blood cells, and is being jointly developed by Acceleron and Celgene Corporation. Acceleron's second program, ACE-031, which is currently in a phase 1 study, is designed to increase skeletal muscle mass and strength, and also decreases fat mass. ACE-031 has shown encouraging preclinical results in animal models of age-related muscle loss, neuromuscular disease, cancer treatment-related muscle loss and metabolic diseases. The company plans to bring its third program, ACE-041, a novel, non-VEGF-based angiogenesis inhibitor that blocks the development of vasculature in tumors, into the clinic by the end of 2009.
Acceleron is a privately held biopharmaceutical company committed to discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize novel biotherapeutics that modulate the growth of bone, muscle, red blood cells, fat and the vasculature to treat musculoskeletal, metabolic and cancer-related diseases.
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