Management
Prof. Michael Höcker, Chief Executive Officer
Michael Höcker joined CT Atlantic as CEO in February 2010 and brings a strong background in translational medicine and clinical oncology together with substantial experience as a pharmaceutical executive to the company.
He most recently served as a Global Medical Director at Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (Basel). Prior to this he held executive positions of increasing responsibility at AstraZeneca including VP Medical for the German market.
Before joining the industry, he was an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Charité in Berlin, where also he headed an independent molecular research group focusing on the angiogenesis of gastrointestinal cancers.
Prof. Höcker holds an MD degree from the University of Göttingen and received his scientific and clinical training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston and the Charité in Berlin. He is a board certified Internist and (co-)author of more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and several patents and patent applications.
Dr Martin Treder, Chief Scientific Officer
Martin Treder is a founding member of the CT Atlantic team and a trained molecular biologist with a decade of experience in the preclinical and early clinical development of anti-cancer antibodies.
He joined CT Atlantic from U3 Pharma AG, where he was Program Director heading the company's portfolio of innovative fully-human anti-HER3 antibodies as anti-cancer therapeutics. His responsibilities also included the direction of preclinical and IND (Investigational New Drug) enabling activities.
Dr. Treder graduated with honors from the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia and performed his doctorate training at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany.
Dr Christoph Esslinger, Chief Technology Officer
Christoph Esslinger is a founding member of the CT Atlantic team and is a trained immunologist with a long-standing expertise in human monoclonal antibody technology and the development of antibody-based immunotherapies.
His most recent position was as Director of Antibody Discovery at Neurimmune Therapeutics AG. His previous work includes pioneering strategies for the molecular cloning of human-derived antibodies from Alzheimer and cancer patients.
Dr. Esslinger received his doctorate at the University of Lausanne and has worked at internationally renowned research institutions such as the University of Zürich Medical School, the Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (Lausanne branch).
Cara Lerner, Chief Operating Officer
Cara Lerner joined CT Atlantic in 2009 as Head of Program Management and transitioned to COO in 2010. She brings a strong background in pharmaceutical program management of technology development programs and budget tracking and forecasting.
Previously, Ms. Lerner was with Merck Research Laboratories, Merck & Co., Inc., where she was a Program Manager, focusing on innovative technology evaluation and management of domestic and international vendors.
Ms. Lerner holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Tufts University, USA and a Masters Degree in Immunology from University of Washington, USA. She is a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM).