Acceleron to Host Educational Webcast Series with Clinical Thought Leaders

Acceleron Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:XLRN), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel protein therapeutics for cancer and rare diseases, today announced that it plans to host and webcast a series of online seminars with thought-leading experts in diseases for which sotatercept and luspatercept (ACE-536) are being developed. Acceleron and its collaboration partner, Celgene, are conducting phase 2 clinical trials of sotatercept and luspatercept in patients with lower-risk MDS, beta-thalassemia and end-stage renal disease with mineral and bone disorder.

The first webcast will be on myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) led by Professor Uwe Platzbecker, M.D., Professor of Hematology at Universitatsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus in Dresden, Germany and coordinating principal investigator of the luspatercept “PACE-MDS” phase 2 study. Prof. Platzbecker will provide a summary of the current treatment options for lower risk MDS patients and recently presented phase 2 data from the luspatercept study in MDS, and he will be available to answer questions from participants.

Date: Monday, September 22, 2014
Time: 12:00 PM (EDT)

To access the live webcast, please visit the "Events & Presentations" page in the Investors & Media section on the Company's website (http://investor.acceleronpharma.com/events.cfm). To ensure a timely connection, it is recommended that users register at least 15 minutes before the scheduled webcast. To participate by teleconference, please dial 877-312-5848 (domestic) or 253-237-1155 (international) and refer to the Acceleron Seminar on MDS. A replay of the webcast will be available on Acceleron’s website.

About Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous group of hematologic malignancies of the bone marrow commonly leading to severe and chronic anemia due to ineffective erythropoiesis. The National Cancer Institute estimates that more than 10,000 people are diagnosed with MDS in the United States each year. Patients with MDS have a hypercellular bone marrow with various dysplastic changes of the cells that are also seen in peripheral blood, resulting in cytopenias (low blood cell counts) and an increased risk of progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Nearly all MDS patients suffer from anemia. The anemia in MDS is characterized by high endogenous levels of erythropoietin (EPO) driving an abundance of early stage red blood cell precursors and an inability of these precursor cells to properly differentiate into healthy, functional red blood cells. Many patients are therefore unresponsive to the administration of erythropoietin to correct the resulting anemia and instead require red blood cell transfusions, which can increase the risk of infection and iron-overload related toxicities.

About Acceleron

Acceleron is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel protein therapeutics for cancer and rare diseases. The company is a leader in understanding the biology of the Transforming Growth Factor-Beta (TGF-β) protein superfamily, a large and diverse group of molecules that are key regulators in the growth and repair of tissues throughout the human body, and in targeting these pathways to develop important new medicines. Acceleron has built a highly productive R&D platform that has generated innovative clinical and preclinical protein therapeutic candidates with novel mechanisms of action. These protein therapeutic candidates have the potential to significantly improve clinical outcomes for patients with cancer and rare diseases.

For more information, please visit www.acceleronpharma.com.