Surface Oncology, a Cambridge, Mass.-based provider of next-generation cancer immunotherapies, has appointed Detlev Biniszkiewicz, Ph.D., president and CEO, effective immediately. Biniszkiewicz brings over 15 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, M.D., chairman of the board for Surface Oncology and a partner at Atlas Venture.

Previously, Biniszkiewicz 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. 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.