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.
