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BRISBANE, Calif., Oct. 15, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATRA), a drug development company with a focus on innovative therapies for patients with debilitating diseases, today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 5,000,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $11.00 per share, before underwriting discounts and commissions. The shares are expected to begin trading on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “ATRA” on October 16, 2014. In addition, Atara has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 750,000 shares of common stock from Atara at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments, if any. The offering is expected to close on October 21, 2014, subject to customary closing conditions.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. are acting as joint book-running managers for the proposed offering. Jefferies LLC is acting as co-manager.

A registration statement relating to these securities was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 15, 2014.

The offering is being made only by means of a written prospectus forming part of the effective registration statement. A copy of the final prospectus relating to these securities may be obtained, when available, from Goldman, Sachs & Co., Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, New York 10282, by telephone at (866) 471-2526, by facsimile at (212) 902-9316, or by email at prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com, or from Citigroup Global Markets Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY, 11717, by email at prospectus@citi.com or by phone at (800) 831-9146.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. is a drug development company focusing on innovative therapies for patients with debilitating diseases. The company’s lead programs are focused on myostatin and activin, members of the TGF-beta family of proteins that have demonstrated the potential to have therapeutic benefit in a number of clinical indications.

CONTACT: Tina Gullotta, tgullotta@atarabio.com, 415-287-2427

— T-cell Technology Harnesses Immune System to Fight Cancer and Infectious Disease —

Brisbane, CA – [September 23, 2014] – Atara Biotherapeutics (Atara) today announced that they have entered into an exclusive option agreement with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) for the development and commercialization of allogeneic T-cell therapies for the treatment of certain cancers and persistent viral infections. Under the terms of the agreement, Atara will have the option to acquire a worldwide license to three clinical stage T-cell therapies consisting of:

• T‑Cells activated against Epstein Barr Virus, or EBV (Phase 2);
• T‑Cells activated against cytomegalovirus, or CMV (Phase 2); and
• T‑Cells activated against Wilms Tumor 1, or WT1 (Phase 1)

These three programs share a common technology under which third-party donor-derived whole blood is collected and enriched for T lymphocytes, or T‑Cells. The T‑Cells are then exposed to certain antigens, and the resulting activated T‑Cells are characterized and stored for future therapeutic use. T‑Cells are a critical component of the body’s immune system and can be harnessed to counteract viral infections and some cancers. By focusing the T‑Cells on specific proteins involved in cancers and infections, the power of the immune system can be employed to combat these diseases.

The EBV program is in Phase 2 and has been dosed in over 100 patients with initial results published in the journal Blood. Richard O’Reilly, MD, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Chief of the Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Service at MSK, notes that “This collaboration brings the expertise and resources together to expand on the exciting clinical results we’ve observed and will allow us to bring these therapies to a broader patient population.”

MSK will receive cash and Atara common stock in return for the exclusive option. If Atara exercises its option to enter into the license agreement, MSK will receive an upfront license payment and be eligible to receive additional payments based on achievement of certain development, regulatory and sales-related milestones, as well as royalty payments. Atara and MSK have agreed to collaborate on further research to develop additional cellular therapies, which may include T-cell therapies against other antigens and/or chimeric antigen receptor-modified T‑Cells, known as CAR T.

“Our partnership with MSK supports the Atara vision to identify and develop therapies with broad potential to address a number of serious unmet medical needs using innovative science,” said Christopher Haqq, Chief Medical Officer for Atara. “We believe that these off-the-shelf T-cell therapies hold substantial promise for patients who have limited treatment options.”

About Atara

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. is a privately-held drug development company with a focus on innovative therapies for patients with debilitating diseases. The company’s lead programs are focused on myostatin and activin, members of the TGF-beta family of proteins that have demonstrated the potential to have therapeutic benefit in a number of clinical indications. Atara was launched in 2012 by a proven team of drug developers and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. For more information, please visit www.atarabio.com.

MSK CONTACT: Andrea Baird, bairda@mskcc.org, 212-639-3573

MEDIA CONTACT: Tina Gullotta, tgullotta@atarabio.com, 415-287-2427

INVESTOR CONTACT: Tina Gullotta, tgullotta@atarabio.com, 415-287-2427

— Matthew K. Fust joins Board of Directors —
— Mitchall G. Clark named Chief Regulatory and Quality Assurance Officer —

BRISBANE and THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., April 8, 2014 – Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc., a drug development company with a focus on innovative therapies for patients with debilitating diseases, announced today that it has strengthened its board of directors and executive team by appointing Matthew K. Fust as a director and hiring Mitchall G. Clark, B.Pharm, as chief regulatory and quality assurance officer.

Mr. Fust most recently served for five years as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, where his responsibilities included the corporate finance, accounting, and information technology organizations, along with other operating functions at the company. Prior to Onyx, Fust spent more than five years as senior vice president and chief financial officer of Palo Alto, California-based Jazz Pharmaceuticals, and prior to that he was CFO at Mountain View, California-based Perlegen Sciences and at Mountain View, California-based ALZA Corporation. Fust currently serves as a board member and audit committee chair at Rockville, Maryland-based MacroGenics, South San Francisco, California-based Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, and Novato, California-based Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical.

Prior to joining Atara, Mr. Clark was senior vice president, regulatory affairs at Los Angeles-based Nantworks Group of Companies where he established the regulatory affairs function. Prior to that he was senior vice president, regulatory affairs at Abraxis where he led the regulatory team responsible for the global regulatory approvals of Abraxane® at Celgene Corporation after the Abraxis acquisition. In addition, Clark spent more than 13 years in senior management positions at a number of pharmaceutical companies including American Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc. and VivoRX, Inc.

“We have sought to build a board and management team that have world class biopharmaceutical credentials,” said Isaac Ciechanover, MD, chief executive officer of Atara.  “We are fortunate that these two seasoned and accomplished individuals have chosen to join the Atara team.  Matt is a leader in pharmaceutical company management and finance, and his experience and guidance will be a great asset to the board and the entire organization.  Mitch Clark is also a recognized industry leader and has broad experience in regulatory affairs, having built companies from formation through commercialization. His experience taking compounds from IND to approval on aggressive schedules should serve Atara, and ultimately patients, well.”

About Atara Biotherapeutics

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. is a privately-held drug development company with a focus on innovative therapies for patients with debilitating diseases. The company’s lead programs are focused on myostatin and activin, members of the TGF-beta family of proteins that have demonstrated the potential to have therapeutic benefit in a number of clinical indications.  Atara was launched in 2012 by a proven team of drug developers, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.  For more information, please visit www.atarabio.com.

Investor Contact:
Matt Clawson
matt@allencaron.com
949-474-4300

Media Contact:
Dan Budwick, Pure Communications
dan@purecommunicationsinc.com
973-271-6085

— Management to Present at the 32nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference — 

BRISBANE, Calif. and THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., January 10, 2013 – Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc., a drug development company with a focus on innovative therapies for patients with debilitating diseases, announced today a second closing of its recently announced Series B financing, bringing the total raised this round to $52 million. Investors in the Series B include Alexandria Venture Investments, Amgen Ventures, The Baupost Group, Celgene Corporation (Nasdaq: CELG), DAG Ventures, Domain Associates, EcoR1 Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Proceeds will be used to accelerate the clinical development of Atara’s two lead programs, PINTA 745 and STM 434, which are expected to generate new clinical data within the next 18 months.  PINTA 745 is a myostatin inhibiting peptibody in Phase 2 development as a potential treatment for protein energy wasting (PEW), a form of inflammation, malnutrition and muscle wasting in patients with end-stage renal disease. STM 434, an inhibitor of activin, represents a novel targeted approach for the treatment of ovarian cancer as well as other solid tumors.  The Atara team plans to submit an investigational new drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to conduct a first-in-human, Phase 1 study of STM 434.

In addition, Atara announced that Isaac Ciechanover, M.D., chief executive officer, is scheduled to present at the 32^nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 3:30 p.m. PST in San Francisco.

About Atara Biotherapeutics

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. is a privately-held drug development company with a focus on innovative therapies for patients with debilitating diseases. The research of Atara and its family of companies is based on groundbreaking discoveries regarding the ability of activin, myostatin and other biological targets to change the course of disease progression. Atara has three novel biologics in development, including PINTA 745 (Phase 2) for protein energy wasting in end-stage renal disease, STM 434 (IND-ready) for ovarian cancer and other solid tumors, and NINA 842 (pre-clinical) for cancer-related cachexia. Atara and its family of companies were launched in 2012 by a proven team of drug developers, Amgen, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.  For more information, please visit www.atarabio.com.

Media Contact:
Dan Budwick, Pure Communications
973-271-6085
dan@purecommunicationsinc.com

Investor Contact:
Matt Clawson
949-474-4300
matt@allencaron.com