CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Surface Oncology, a leader in next-generation cancer immunotherapies,
announced today the appointment of Detlev Biniszkiewicz, PhD, as
president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Dr.
Biniszkiewicz brings over fifteen years of industry leadership and
experience building a transformative pipeline of novel cancer therapies
most recently as the head of the oncology strategy at AstraZeneca.
"Surface is building on the recent breakthrough success in
immuno-oncology creating the next generation of immunotherapies beyond
checkpoint blockade," said David Grayzel, MD Chairman of the Board for
Surface Oncology and a Partner at Atlas Venture. "Detlev brings proven
research, development, and business leadership to Surface's world-class
scientific foundation, and we are extremely excited to have him join the
company."
"This is an incredible time in oncology drug discovery and I am thrilled
to be joining a company that is so well-positioned to have a meaningful
impact in the fight against cancer," said Dr. Biniszkiewcz. "By
targeting novel areas of biology at the intersection of innate and
adaptive immunity, we will expand the arsenal of immunotherapies to
benefit a greater number of patients in a wider range of tumor types."
Prior to joining Surface, Dr. Biniszkiewicz held positions at
AstraZeneca, Novartis, and the Boston Consulting Group. Most recently he
was Vice President, Oncology Strategy at AZ where he led the aggressive
and very successful strategy to rebuild the AZ oncology portfolio into a
robust pipeline of novel therapies with strong emphasis on
immuno-oncology. Prior to that, Dr. Biniszkiewicz, was the Global Head
of Portfolio Management at the Novartis Institute for Biomedical
Research. Earlier in his career he was a principal in the pharmaceutical
practice at the Boston Consulting Group, and completed his scientific
training at the Jaenisch Laboratory at Whitehead Institute in the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
About Surface Oncology
The company was created to advance next-generation approaches to cancer
immunotherapy based on proprietary insights about novel immunotherapy
targets and emerging areas of cancer immuno-biology. The company's
scientific founders and SAB are comprised of world-leading immunologists
and cancer researchers, including co-chairs Sasha Rudensky (Memorial
Sloan Kettering) and Arlene Sharpe (Harvard/DFCI). They are joined on
the SAB by Christopher Hunter and John Wherry (University of
Pennsylvania), Carla Rothlin (Yale University), Elliott Sigal, and John
Stagg (University of Montreal).
Surface Oncology recently completed a $35 million Series A financing
round with A-list backers. Atlas Venture, which seeded the company in
2014, led the round, joined by New Enterprise Associates, Fidelity
Biosciences, Lilly ($LLY) Ventures, Amgen ($AMGN) Ventures, Novartis
($NVS) Institute for Biomedical Research, and Elliott Sigal, the former
head of R&D at Bristol-Myers. For more information, visit www.surfaceoncology.com.
