Thursday, October 16, 2008

Acceleron, Celgene begin Phase 2 multiple myeloma study

By Mass High Tech Staff

Cambridge-based Acceleron Pharma Inc. has initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial for patients with multiple myeloma using its drug ACE-011, an activin receptor type IIA that induces bone formation. The drug is being developed to address the bone loss associated with a number of cancer types. The company stated it has had “encouraging results” from Phase 1 studies with ACE-011. Acceleron will present the full results of the Phase 1 trial at a medical conference this year.

Both Acceleron Pharma and biotech Celgene Corp. (Nasdaq: CELG) are developing ACE-011 through a licensing agreement. New Jersey-based Celgene will pay Acceleron a $5 million milestone payment as per the collaboration.

In February, Celgene and Acceleron announced that they would jointly develop, manufacture and commercialize Acceleron’s products for bone loss. At the time, Celgene made an upfront payment to Acceleron of $50 million, which included a $5 million equity investment in Acceleron. In addition, in the event of an initial public offering of Acceleron, Celgene would purchase a minimum of $7 million of Acceleron common stock.

Founded in 2003, Acceleron employs 90 workers and has raised a total of $86 million in three rounds of venture capital financing. In addition to its treatments for bone loss, the biotech is developing proteins intended to increase muscle mass, control the growth of blood vessels and block the accumulation of fat.