Atara Biotherapeutics Hires Chief Medical Officer

Atara Biotherapeutics Inc. announced Tuesday the hiring of Dr. Kanya Rajangam as senior vice president and chief medical officer. The company, which is developing T-cell immunotherapy for cancer treatments, is headquartered in South San Francisco but its research and development operation is in Westlake Village. Rajangam joins Atara from Cleave Biosciences in Burlingame, where she served as chief medical officer and supervised clinical development programs in hematologic and solid tumor malignancies. The company said she brings experience in oncology and advancing medications toward regulatory approval. “Kanya has an exemplary track record leading clinical development and supporting regulatory submissions for several globally approved oncology products, as well as clinical experience in solid organ transplantation,” Atara Chief Executive Isaac Ciechanover said in a statement. In conjunction with the hiring, Atara filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing that Rajangam will receive stock options for 145,000 shares at an exercise price of $13.65. Shares of Atara (ATRA) closed Tuesday up 40 cents, or 3 percent, to $13.65 on the Nasdaq.