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VC-Backed Acceleron Pharma Raises $8.4M of $11.5M Offering - cbl
Posted June 21, 2010
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By citybizlist Staff
CAMBRIDGE -- Acceleron Pharma Inc. has raised $8.36 million of its $11.5 million mixed-securities offering, according to an SEC filing.
Investors in the Cambridge, Mass.-based drug developer include: Advanced Technology Ventures and Polaris Ventures, both of Waltham , Mass. ; Flagship Ventures and Venrock, both of Cambridge ; Boston-based MPM BioEquities; Larchmont, N.Y.-based Bessemer Ventures, with offices in Wellesley Hills , Mass. ; New York 's OrbiMed Advisors; and Sutter Hill Ventures, of Palo Alto , Calif.
All of those firms participated in a $31 million Series C round in 2007, as citybizlist posted. Acceleron Pharma received its initial funding in 2004.
Principals named in the current Reg D filing include founder and CEO John Knopf and investor-firm directors Anthony Evnin, Ed Kania, Jean George, Terry McGuire and Carl Gordon.
Acceleron's therapies can modulate the growth and repair of a variety of tissue systems.
Reg D filing: http://tinyurl.com/23jsnpg
Also at citybizlist, see:
Acceleron Doubles Laboratory and Manufacturing Space and Increases Headcount by 40%
Acceleron Pharma and Celgene Corporation Receive Hart-Scott-Rodino Clearance
Acceleron Pharma Completes $31M Series C Financing
Bios from Acceleron Pharma's Web site:
John Knopf Ph.D.,
Chief Executive Officer and Founder
In June of 2003, Dr. Knopf worked with co-founder Jasbir Seehra to develop the strategy and found Acceleron Pharma. Dr. Knopf was formerly Site Head of the Wyeth Research facilities, Cambridge , MA and Vice President of Metabolic and Respiratory Disease until late 2002. Dr. Knopf was a key scientist at Genetics Institute from 1982 to 1998, where he participated in the development of pioneering biopharmaceutical products and helped establish GI as a premier biopharmaceutical company. He also established a structure-based small molecule discovery group at GI in Cambridge that has introduced several small molecules into the clinic. Dr. Knopf is the author of several key scientific manuscripts in the area of signal transduction, and of a number of patents. He received his Ph.D. at SUNY Buffalo and his bachelor's degree from SUNY at Stonybrook.
Peter Courossi
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Courossi has been involved with Acceleron as a consultant since late 2003 and joined as Chief Financial Officer in October 2006. He is a financial executive with 20 years of experience managing many aspects of early-stage technology companies including finance, accounting, human resources and operations. He has successfully closed two initial public offerings and has been involved with several high-growth biotechnology start-ups backed by venture capital. Mr. Courossi's experience includes positions at Aveo Pharmaceuticals, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Genzyme Tissue Repair, Sention Pharmaceuticals, and TransForm Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Courossi is a CPA and holds an MBA from Babson College .
Jasbir Seehra
Chief Scientific Officer, Senior Vice President and Founder
In June of 2003, Dr. Seehra worked with co-founder John Knopf to develop the strategy and form Acceleron Pharma. Dr Seehra has more than 20 years of experience in drug discovery. He joined Genetics Institute in 1983 as a bench scientist and held numerous positions with increasing responsibility. Dr. Seehra successfully built the small molecule drug discovery capability at Genetics Institute including medicinal chemistry, high throughput screening and structural biology. After the merger with American Home Products, Dr. Seehra was responsible for the small molecule lead discovery effort, which included high throughput screening and structural biology. In 1999 Dr. Seehra was promoted to Vice President of Biological Chemistry at Wyeth. After leaving Wyeth, Dr. Seehra was a drug discovery consultant to Aveo Pharmaceuticals. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Southampton UK . Dr. Seehra completed his postdoctoral work with Professor H. Gobind Khorana at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Seehra has numerous publications and patents.
Matthew Sherman
Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President
Dr. Sherman joined Acceleron in May 2006 as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Synta Pharmaceuticals where he was responsible for clinical research, clinical operations, biostatistics, data management, regulatory affairs, quality assurance and program management. Previously, Dr. Sherman worked at Genetics Institute and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in various capacities including Therapeutic Area Director for Oncology. While at Wyeth, Dr. Sherman provided senior oncology and hematology leadership for worldwide clinical development for both small molecule and biologic therapeutics, including the submission and approval of Mylotarg by the FDA. Dr. Sherman is board certified in Medical Oncology and Internal Medicine and held various clinical positions at Harvard Medical School with corresponding hospital appointments at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Sherman holds a B.S. in chemistry Phi Beta Kappa from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.D. with honors from Dartmouth Medical School . He has published over 75 papers and book chapters on laboratory and clinical development of novel drugs as well as in clinical and molecular pharmacology and holds several patents.
Anthony Evnin
Managing General Partner, Venrock Associates
Tony Evnin joined Venrock in 1974, has been a General Partner since 1975, and a Managing General Partner since 1980. He is based in Venrock's New York office, focuses on investments in life sciences, healthcare, and material sciences and led financing of many biotech companies over the last 25 years. Tony is a Director of Caliper Technologies Corporation, Sonic Innovations, Inc., Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc and a number of private companies, including Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Inc., AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Icagen, Inc., Memory Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Renovis, Inc., and Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., He previously served on the boards of Athena Neurosciences Inc. (acquired by Elan Corporation), Centocor, Inc. (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), Genetics Institute (acquired by Wyeth Corporation), IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corporation, IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., SUGEN, Inc. (acquired by Pharmacia & Upjohn Company), and Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (acquired by Gilead Sciences, Inc.). Tony is a Trustee of Princeton University and Rockefeller University . He previously held positions at Story Chemical and Union Carbide Corporation. Tony has a A.B. degree from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ed Kania
Senior Managing Director & Chairman, Flagship Ventures
Flagship Ventures manages over $700 million in committed capital including the OneLiberty Funds. Prior to co-founding Flagship Ventures in 1999, Mr. Kania spent 15 years as Managing General Partner of OneLiberty Ventures and as General Partner at its predecessor firm, Morgan Holland Ventures. His direct investment experience covers over 100 companies. In addition, he has been intimately involved in the launch and development of more than a dozen companies as the founding and lead investor. Mr. Kania is currently a director of Aspect Medical Systems (Nasdaq: ASPM ), EXACT Sciences (Nasdaq: EXAS), and several private companies. He holds a degree in physics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School .
Jean George
General Partner, Advanced Technology Ventures
Jean George joined Advanced Technology Ventures in 2002 with 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including 10 years at Genzyme Corporation. Jean assesses new deals in the life sciences and therapeutics markets, and utilizes her operational skills to actively assist portfolio companies on their strategic planning and development. Jean is currently on the Boards of Critical Therapeutics, Inc., Hypnion, Inc., and Proteolix, Inc. Prior to joining ATV, Jean was a Director at BancBoston Ventures, where she led the health care team's investment activity in NuGenesis Technologies Corp., Microbia, Inc., Syntonix Pharmaceuticals and Neurometrix, Inc. Previously, during Jean's tenure at Genzyme, she held a variety of operational roles in marketing, product development and business development, including Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing. Jean was a member of the founding team of the Genzyme Tissue Repair Division, and held responsibilities for identifying new product opportunities and potential acquisition candidates for the Therapeutic Products Division. In addition to her extensive operating background, Jean spent six years working in chemistry and bioresearch fields. Jean earned an MBA from Simmons College Graduate School of Management and a BS in Biology from the University of Maine .
Patrick Gage
Founder, enGage Biotech Consulting
Dr. Gage is a highly respected veteran of the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, and is the founder of enGage Biotech Consulting, which facilitates the development of new biotechnology companies. Prior to this, Pat spent 18 years at Hoffmann-La Roche where he held the position of VP, Exploratory Research. In 1989, he joined Genetics Institute, Inc. serving as Chief Operating Officer and eventually, President in 1997. In 1998, Pat was named President of Wyeth Research for the combined companies, and in 2000 was also named SVP, Science and Technology, and also led the biopharmaceutical manufacturing division for Wyeth. In this capacity he served as the Chief Scientific Officer for Wyeth corporate and as advisor to the company's Chairman and CEO as well as its Board of Directors. Pat has also served as a Venture Partner at Flagship Ventures, Chairman and subsequently as Interim CEO of PDL BioPharma, Chairman of Adnexus Therapeutics (now a unit of Bristol Myers Squibb Research), Chairman of Neose Technologies and as a Director of Serono (acquired by Merck KGA) and ArQule. Pat currently serves as Executive Chairman of Virdante Pharmaceuticals and as a Director at Immune Control and Alvine Pharmaceuticals. Pat earned a Bachelors Degree in Physics in 1964 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Chicago in 1969.
Richard Pops
Chairman, Alkermes, Inc.
Mr. Pops, Chairman of Alkermes, also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Alkermes from February 1991 until March 2007. Under his leadership, Alkermes has grown from a privately held company with 25 employees to a publicly traded pharmaceutical company with more than 700 employees in multiple locations in the United States . Prior to joining Alkermes, he was employed by PaineWebber, Inc. in New York as Vice President of PaineWebber Development Corporation, providing product development financing for the country's leading biotechnology and high-technology companies. Mr. Pops currently serves on the Board of Directors of: Alkermes, Inc.; Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.; CombinatoRx, Inc.; Reliant Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Acceleron Pharma, Inc.; Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Expressive Constructs, Inc.; the Biotechnology Industry Organization ( BIO ); the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA); the New England Healthcare Institute (NEHI); Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows and The Fessenden School Board of Trustees. He also serves as an Advisory Board Member of Polaris Venture Partners.
Terry McGuire
Co-founder and Managing General Partner, Polaris Venture Partners
Terry McGuire is a co-founder and managing general partner of Polaris Venture Partners based in the Boston office. Terry focuses on life sciences investments. Prior to starting Polaris, Terry spent seven years at Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. investing in early stage medical and information technology companies. Terry began his career in venture capital at Golder, Thoma and Cressey in Chicago . Terry has co-founded three companies: Inspire Pharmaceuticals ( ISPH ); AIR (Advanced Inhalation Research, Inc.), acquired by Alkermes ( ALKS ); and MicroCHIPS. Terry represents Polaris on the boards of directors of Acceleron Pharma; Biolex Therapeutics; Life Line Screening; Microbia; MicroCHIPS, Inc.; and Remon Medical Technologies Inc. He has also represented Polaris on the boards of Akamai; Aspect Medical Systems; Cubist Pharmaceuticals; deCODE ( DCGN ); GlycoFi; and Transform Pharmaceuticals.
Terry currently serves on the boards of the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College; the Private Equity and Entrepreneurship Center at the Amos Tuck School, Dartmouth College; the National Venture Capital Association; the MIT Center for Cancer Research; the Advisory Board of Harvard Business School's Healthcare Initiative; the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research; and the Advisory Board of the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, Harvard Business School. He is a former board member of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and MassMEDIC. Terry holds an MBA from Harvard Business School , an MS in engineering from The Thayer School at Dartmouth College , and a BS in physics and economics from Hobart College .
Wylie Vale
The Helen McLoraine Professor of Molecular Neurobiology The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Dr. Vale is Head of The Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology at the Salk Institute. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the University of California , San Diego . Dr. Vale is recognized for his work on the molecular, pharmacological and biomedical characterization of more than a dozen neuroendocrine peptides, growth factors and their receptors. He is a co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of Neurocrine Biosciences, a public company, founded in part based upon his group's identification and study of peptides and receptors mediating the endocrine, metabolic and behavioral responses to stress. Dr. Vale's group has also characterized activin A, a member of the TGF-beta/BMP family of growth factors as well as the activin receptor type II, the first signaling receptor for this family. In recognition of his discoveries, he has received numerous awards and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. He is a past President of the American Endocrine Society and is the current President of the International Society of Endocrinology. Dr. Vale received his undergraduate education at Rice University and his Ph.D. at Baylor College of Medicine.
Tom Maniatis
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University
Dr. Maniatis is Professor and Chair of the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. After postdoctoral studies at Harvard University and the Medical Research Council in Cambridge , England , Dr. Maniatis held faculty positions at Harvard University , the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology before taking his present position at Columbia . Dr. Maniatis was a pioneer in the development of gene cloning technology, and he has published extensively in the field of eukaryotic gene regulation. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and has received numerous awards for his research contributions, including the Eli Lilly Research Award in Microbiology and Immunology, and the Richard Lounsbery Award for Biology and Medicine from the U.S. and French National Academies of Science. Dr. Maniatis is a cofounder of Genetics Institute, where he chaired the scientific board and served on the board of directors for over 17 years. During this time the company gained FDA approval for several protein-based drugs, including recombinant human erythropoietin, Factor VIII and Factor IX, as well as bone morphogenic proteins. Dr. Maniatis was also a cofounder of ProScript Inc., which discovered the drug Velcade, currently the leading commercial product of Millennium Pharmaceuticals. He received his undergraduate education at the University of Colorado at Boulder , and his Ph.D. in molecular biology from Vanderbilt University .
Carl Gordon
Founding General Partner of OrbiMed and Co-Head of Private Equity
Mr. Gordon is active in both private equity and small-capitalization public equity investments. He was a senior biotechnology analyst at Mehta and Isaly from 1995 to 1997. He was a Fellow at The Rockefeller University from 1993 to 1995. Mr. Gordon received a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His doctoral work involved studies of protein folding and assembly. He received a Bachelors degree from Harvard College.
Posted: June 21, 2010
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