Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATRA) today announced that Carol Gallagher will assume the role of Chair of the Board of Directors, replacing Ron Renaud, who is stepping down to focus on his new position as Managing Director at Bain Capital Life Sciences.
“Since 2020, I have had the privilege of serving on Atara’s Board of Directors and witnessing firsthand the progress across its pipeline of potentially transformative therapies,” said Ron Renaud. “Atara has a best-in-class team of visionaries who I wish success on their journey to transform the lives of patients with high unmet medical need. I have worked alongside Carol for years and have full confidence that she will help drive Atara’s growth to new heights as Chair.”
Carol Gallagher, Pharm.D. is a venture partner in the life sciences practice of New Enterprise Associates and an experienced public company director. She has served as a Director at Atara since 2013 and as a member of both the Compensation and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees. Gallagher was formerly the President and CEO of Calistoga Pharmaceuticals and has held commercial and drug development roles within Eli Lilly, Amgen, Agouron, Pfizer and Biogen Idec.
Atara also announced that after four years of service, Roy Baynes, M.D., Ph.D., has decided to step down from Atara’s Board of Directors to pursue other external opportunities following his retirement from Merck.
“On behalf of Atara and its Board of Directors, I want to express my gratitude to both Ron and Roy for their dedicated service to our company and its shareholders,” said Pascal Touchon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Atara. “We look forward to entering an exciting year under Carol’s Board stewardship as we progress toward realizing the full potential of our EBV T-cell platform across multiple therapeutic areas.”
About Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (@Atarabio) is a pioneer in T-cell immunotherapy leveraging its novel allogeneic EBV T-cell platform to develop transformative therapies for patients with serious diseases including solid tumors, hematologic cancers and autoimmune disease. With our lead program receiving marketing authorization in Europe, Atara is the most advanced allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy company and intends to rapidly deliver off-the-shelf treatments to patients with high unmet medical need. Our platform leverages the unique biology of EBV T cells and has the capability to treat a wide range of EBV-associated diseases, or other serious diseases through incorporation of engineered CARs (chimeric antigen receptors) or TCRs (T-cell receptors). Atara is applying this one platform, which does not require TCR or HLA gene editing, to create a robust pipeline including: tab-cel for Epstein-Barr virus positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (EBV+ PTLD) and other EBV-driven diseases; ATA188, a T-cell immunotherapy targeting EBV antigens as a potential treatment for multiple sclerosis; and multiple next-generation chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) immunotherapies for both solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Improving patients’ lives is our mission and we will never stop working to bring transformative therapies to those in need. Atara is headquartered in Southern California. For additional information about the company, please visit atarabio.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains or may imply “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. For example, forward-looking statements include statements regarding Atara’s pipeline and platform, and the development, timing, progress, characteristics and benefits of Atara’s pipeline and platform. Because such statements deal with future events and are based on Atara’s current expectations, they are subject to various risks and uncertainties and actual results, performance or achievements of Atara could differ materially from those described in or implied by the statements in this press release. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with the costly and time-consuming pharmaceutical product development process and the uncertainty of clinical success; the COVID-19 pandemic, which may significantly impact (i) our business, research, clinical development plans and operations, including our operations in Southern California and Denver and at our clinical trial sites, as well as the business or operations of our third-party manufacturer, contract research organizations or other third parties with whom we conduct business, (ii) our ability to access capital, and (iii) the value of our common stock; the sufficiency of Atara’s cash resources and need for additional capital; and other risks and uncertainties affecting Atara’s and its development programs, including those discussed in Atara’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the Company’s most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and subsequent filings and in the documents incorporated by reference therein. Except as otherwise required by law, Atara disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise.
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