Privately-held biotech Atreca Inc., dedicated to the development of novel therapeutics based on human immune responses, has announced the appointment of a new Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), Norman M. Greenberg, Ph.D.
Greenberg has more than two decades of experience leading groundbreaking research studies and advancing innovative cancer immunotherapies into the clinic. He will now report to Atreca President and CEO Tito A. Serafini, Ph.D.
“Norm has played a pivotal role in the success of cancer immunotherapy, with his research efforts having provided essential groundwork for the first drug of the checkpoint inhibitor class to reach the market,” Serafini said in a press release. “Furthermore, during his time in industry, he was directly responsible for discovering and developing multiple immuno-oncology therapeutics, including several currently in advanced clinical trials. He joins Atreca at a seminal moment as we continue to progress our lead programs. I am very pleased to have someone of Norm’s stature and accomplishment join our growing leadership team.”
Greenberg earned his B.Sc. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Toronto and was awarded a homonymous Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. He began his career at Baylor College of Medicine, where he served as a tenured associate professor in molecular and cellular biology. There, he created refined animal models to help advance the scientific community’s understanding of how immune checkpoint regulators, like CTLA4, could have a clinical application.
After Baylor, Greenberg was a full member in the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where he and his team analyzed molecular mechanisms of tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis.
At this point, Greenberg joined the pharmaceutical industry and became senior director of research in Oncology at Pfizer. He led the company’s expert group to develop novel small molecule and biologic drugs for unmet medical needs in breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers.
Afterward, throughout his career, Greenberg also played crucial roles during scientific due diligence preceding the acquisitions of Spirogen and Amplimmune, and served as vice president of Global Research, Oncology, at MedImmune – AstraZeneca’s biologics arm.
At MedImmune, he conducted global research projects for immune-mediated and tumor-targeted therapies, some of which are now advancing into the clinic. Before joining Atreca, Greenberg served as senior vice president of Translational Research at Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, where he led the team advancing novel immuno-oncology combination therapeutics into clinical trials.
“I am very excited to join the dedicated and highly talented scientists and engineers at Atreca to further advance its R&D programs, based on the company’s industry-leading Immune Repertoire Capture technology platform. As IRC has demonstrated a unique capacity to fully characterize a patient’s successful immune responses to cancer,” Greenberg said, “I believe this technology has the potential to hasten new paradigms and approaches to meet the persistent and compelling needs in cancer care.”
