Although Silicon Valley is the technology epicenter of the country, one South San Francisco company plans to move most of its operations to the biotech hub in the Conejo Valley. Atara Biotherapeutics Inc. just broke ground on its new 91,000-square-foot facility at 2430 Conejo Spectrum St. in Thousand Oaks, which is expected to be ready next year. The new industrial building will house the company’s clinical and regulatory operations as well as manufacturing and distribution. The biotech startup, focused on T-cell therapies, was formed by Menlo Park-based venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and biotech giant Amgen Inc. in Thousand Oaks. Kleiner Perkins provided the initial investment, while Amgen supplied the early technology by licensing six of its pipeline drugs to Atara. When forming the company in 2012, Kleiner Perkins and Amgen decided that Atara would have locations in both the Bay Area and Thousand Oaks, “where it can help broaden the biotechnology hub around Amgen,” as stated in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Additionally, Atara’s leadership team would be comprised of former Kleiner Perkins and Amgen executives, and Amgen would be a minority investor with rights to an observer seat on the board of directors. “The creation of Atara Biotherapeutics also provides the opportunity to further foster biotechnology innovation in Amgen’s headquarters’ communities,” Dr. Sean Harper, Amgen’s vice president of research and development, said in a statement. To fill out the new facility, Thousand Oaks Mayor Claudia Bill-de la Peña told the Business Journal in a previous statement that Atara plans to add 50 new employees this year. Currently, the company has about 70 employees at its Westlake Village research and development facility. Those workers will relocate to the new space on Conejo Spectrum Street, while its corporate headquarters will remain in South San Francisco. Steve Bertram, Atara’s senior vice president of global human resources, confirmed there was “room to grow with the space,” but did not confirm how many employees will be added or a timeline. Financial faith Financing the expansion is a nonissue – Atara is a public company that had $256 million in cash and investments as of Dec. 31. The money will “fund its planned operations into the first quarter of 2019,” as stated in its latest financial report. However, even with so much financial faith, the biotech does not currently have a product on the market. Its four pipeline drug candidates are in various stages of clinical development, with three of them licensed through a worldwide agreement with New York-based Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Last year, the biotech reported a net loss of $79 million, or $2.75 a share, compared to a net loss of $57 million, or $2.24 a share, in 2015. “Substantially, all of the company’s net losses resulted from research and development expenses related to clinical and preclinical programs and from general and administrative expenses associated with operations,” its latest financial report stated. Atara focuses on developing T-cell immunotherapies, which utilize the body’s own immune system to attack the cells that cause life-threatening diseases. Recently, the biotech received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for two of its Phase 3 clinical trial designs for its pipeline therapy ATA129, which treats the Epstein-Barr virus, a form of herpes that can cause certain types of cancer. In addition, collaborator Sloan Kettering released positive data on Atara’s other T-cell candidate, ATA230, which treats cytomegalovirus, which can cause severe or fatal organ damage in patients with weak immune systems. In his March 9 report, Michael King Jr., an Atara analyst at JMP Securities of San Francisco, said Atara’s pipeline milestones are a better indicator of the biotech’s advancements as opposed to its earnings. “We believe Atara represents a unique opportunity to invest in a cell therapy company with a diversified pipeline,” King wrote in his report. However, he warns of some investment risks, including the uncertainty of clinical trials and regulatory approval, the unknown time and capital it could take to bring these treatments to market as well as the competitive risks. Both Pfizer Inc. of New York and Eli Lilly & Co. Ltd. in Indianapolis are working on related therapies that could impact the market for Atara’s products. Atara’s shares trade on the Nasdaq, closing at $17.50 on April 12. Drug developers have been flocking to the T-cell and immunotherapy space because of its market potential. Atara’s Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Chris Haqq said these therapies could offer a greater upside when compared to past treatments. “T-cell therapies may offer a better side effect profile, a more durable response or efficacy in difficult-to-treat patients,” he wrote in an email to the Business Journal. “In addition, T cells may be better at crossing the blood-brain barrier, potentially helping patients with cancer or autoimmune conditions like multiple sclerosis involving the brain.” Development to commercial Haider Alawami, economic development manager for the city of Thousand Oaks, said Atara’s move to the city is a fitting addition for two reasons. First, its new building is part of a nine-building industrial complex under construction within the Conejo Spectrum Business Park. The 500,000-plus square feet of space will provide a little relief to a city currently at capacity in the industrial category. “We have less than 1 percent vacancy in industrial (real estate), so with the addition of half a million square feet, it’s a great advantage to attract new companies to the city,” he explained. The second reason is it further bolsters the biotech and life sciences hub in the region, bringing new technology and talent to Thousand Oaks. Heather Turner, Atara’s general counsel, said the area’s human resources should help drive the company’s products to commercialization. “We were looking for a location that provided access to a talent pool with the skills needed to establish our manufacturing facility and manufacture our product candidates,” she wrote in an email to the Business Journal. “In addition, we were excited by the opportunity to have all of our employees in Southern California under one roof.” Next year, the company plans on submitting a regulatory application for ATA129 to begin sales and distribution in Europe, which has an accelerated approval pathway compared to the U.S. If all goes according to plan, the biotech anticipates to file for regulatory approval in the first half of 2018, according to a March 9 report on Atara by Chicago-based brokerage William Blair & Co. Atara’s Turner said the biotech’s focus for 2017 is preparing “to move from a development to global commercial-stage company.” With four drugs in clinical trials, plenty of capital in the bank and a new state-of-the-art facility in Thousand Oaks, Atara has the ingredients to bring its products to market. “Atara is very appreciative to the city of Thousand Oaks in supporting its mission via the support it has provided in the permitting process to build this manufacturing facility,” Atara’s Bertram added. “These efforts are an important part of ensuring that we can provide our product candidates to patients in need.”
