ATRA

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc.

A biotechnology company making "off-the-shelf" T-cell therapies that treat cancer, autoimmune diseases, and viral infections, using cells donated by healthy strangers rather than a patient's own cells—so treatment can be delivered in days instead of weeks. Founded in 2012 by Dr. Isaac Ciechanover, the company is named in memory of his mother, Atara, who died of ovarian cancer; the name means "crown" in Hebrew. The technology grew out of research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Australia's QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute.