Friday, January 4, 2019

Atara Biotherapeutics CEO Steps Down

Atara Biotherapeutics, the biopharmaceuticals firm which has its manufacturing and research efforts based in Thousand Oaks, said on Thursday that its current President and CEO, Isaac Ciechanover, M.D., plans to step down. Ciechanover is the founder of Atara. According to the company, its board has initiated a search for a new CEO, with Ciechanover remaining in his role until at least June 30th or when a successor is found. The reason for the CEO changeover was not announced by the company. Atara Biotherapeutics is working on off-the-shelf, allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy to help treat cancer, autoimmune and viral diseases. The company is based in South San Francisco, but was founded in Thousand Oaks and has a large facility in the city. The company is venture backed by Alexandria Venture Investments, Amgen Ventures, The Baupost Group, Celgene Corporation, DAG Ventures, Domain Associates, EcoR1 Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

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