Acceleron Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics that modulate the growth of tissues including bone and muscle, announced that John Knopf, Ph.D., has been named as CEO. Knopf, a founder of Acceleron, has served as the EVP of corporate development and recently, as president, before being unanimously elected by the board as CEO. Prior to co-founding Acceleron, Knopf was formerly site head of the Wyeth Research facilities in Cambridge, MA and VP of metabolic and respiratory disease until 2002. Knopf was also a key scientist at Genetics Institute from 1982 to 1998, where he participated in the development of pioneering biopharmaceutical products and helped establish Genetics Institute as a premier biopharmaceutical company. He also established a structure-based small molecule discovery group at Genetics Institute.