The Wall Street Journal Names Acceleron to “The Next Big Thing” List of Top 50 Start-Ups in the United States

Acceleron one of only two biopharmaceutical companies to make the list

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Acceleron Pharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing protein therapeutics for cancer and orphan diseases, today announced that it was recognized by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top 50 private venture-backed companies in the United States. This is the second time that Acceleron was named to the list.

“The Next Big Thing – The Top 50 Venture-Backed Companies”

“Being recognized by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top 50 venture-backed companies in the U.S. is an honor and a great acknowledgement of our incredible employees, Board and partners, as well as the breakthrough science that serves as the foundation of our novel pipeline of products,” said John Knopf, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Acceleron. “Acceleron has recently made tremendous progress in advancing our pipeline of clinical-stage biologics and will deliver results from numerous Phase 2 clinical trials in 2013. The next 12 months will be a transformative period in the evolution of the company.”

Acceleron was selected for “The Next Big Thing – The Top 50 Venture-Backed Companies” based on criteria including fundraising success, recent growth in the company's value and the track record of its founders and board members. The editorial staff of Dow Jones VentureWire also reviewed and ranked the start-ups based on their knowledge of the companies' products, competition and financial performance. There were 5,900 companies considered for the ranking.

About Acceleron

Acceleron is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company committed to discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize novel protein therapeutics for orphan diseases and cancer. Acceleron’s scientific approach takes advantage of its unique insight to discover first-in-class therapies based on the TGF-β protein superfamily. Acceleron utilizes proven biotherapeutic technologies and capitalizes on the company’s internal GMP manufacturing capability to advance its therapeutic programs rapidly and efficiently. The investors in Acceleron include Advanced Technology Ventures, Alkermes, Avalon Ventures, Bessemer Ventures, Celgene, Flagship Ventures, MPM BioEquities, OrbiMed Advisors, Polaris Ventures, QVT Financial, Sutter Hill Ventures and Venrock. For further information on Acceleron, please visit www.acceleronpharma.com.