Management

Acceleron has a proven management team with a successful track record of discovering, developing, manufacturing, and commercializing novel therapeutics.

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.

Jasbir Seehra, Ph.D., 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 L. Sherman, M.D., 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.

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.

Robert Steininger, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing

Mr. Steininger joined Acceleron in March 2007 as Senior Vice President, Manufacturing. He was previously the Vice President of Process Sciences at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. In this capacity, he was responsible for managing the processes for the bulk production of both large and small molecule clinical candidates. Mr. Steininger also served as a VP within the Millennium Product and Portfolio Management organization. Prior to joining Millennium, he held multiple roles at Genetics Institute (now Wyeth Pharmaceuticals) from 1984 to 2000, including Director of Clinical Production, Director of Process Technology, Director of Regulatory Affairs, and Senior Director of Research, Genomics. Mr. Steininger is a member of the advisory board for the Massachusetts chapter of ISPE, an Advisory Board member of the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and on the Biotechnology Advisory Board for the RISTA program at the Cambridge High School. He has been involved in setting up Biotechnology outreach programs with local grade schools and high schools while at Wyeth and Millennium. Mr. Steininger received a S.B. in chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Steven Ertel, Vice President, Corporate Development

Mr. Ertel joined Acceleron in January 2006 to lead the business development, market development, and investor/public relations functions. His experience spans the continuum from drug discovery to commercialization. He has worked at leading biotechnology companies including Genentech, Biogen Idec, and Synta Pharmaceuticals where he has led project teams of preclinical and clinical stage programs, ran a market development department, launched a novel biologic agent, and directed business development activities. Additionally, Mr. Ertel has experience in venture capital at Oxford Bioscience Partners. He has a B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

James Desiderio, Ph.D., Vice President, Program Management

Dr. Desiderio joined Acceleron in April 2007 with 23 years of experience in pharmaceutical R&D, including a total of 17 years in Project Management. Dr. Desiderio was previously the Executive Director and Department Head, Program Management at Idenix Pharmaceuticals and before that worked at a number of companies including Gilead Sciences and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Dr. Desiderio has a vast and successful track record of leading project teams responsible for drug development activities from the research stage through to global registration and commercialization, and has been closely involved in the development of more than 10 currently marketed products. Dr. Desiderio holds an M.S. degree in Veterinary Medicine and a Ph.D. in Immunology from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University.