Key Products

Immune Medicine Platform makes the adaptive immune system accessible by applying proprietary chemistry, computational biology and machine learning to read the diverse genetic code of a patient’s immune system. It then generates and stores this immune receptor data in a dynamic and growing clinical database.

The Adaptive Immune System is diverse, and the story it tells about each of them is unique. They are decoding these stories to improve lives.

TCR Antigen Map

Adaptive has partnered with Microsoft to map and decode the human immune system. Specialized cells of the adaptive immune system, T and B cells, are continuously responding to infections and cancer as well as playing a significant role in developing autoimmune disease. By reading these signatures, they can make significant advances in how we detect and treat disease.

Key Executives

Chad Robins, Chief Executive Officer, Co-founder, Chairman of the Board

Chad Robins is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies (Nasdaq: ADPT), a commercial stage biotechnology company that aims to translate the genetics of the adaptive immune system into clinical products to diagnose and treat disease.

Since its founding in 2009, Chad has led Adaptive in building a proprietary immune medicine platform that fuels businesses across life sciences research, clinical diagnostics, and drug discovery. In 2019, Chad guided the company through its initial public offering, which was one of the year’s most successful biotech IPOs. Under his leadership, Adaptive has successfully launched the clinical diagnostic clonoSEQ®, the first and only FDA-authorized NGS-based test to detect and monitor minimal residual disease in certain B-cell cancers.

Chad graduated with honors from Cornell University and obtained his MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to Adaptive, Chad held executive-level positions in real estate, investment banking, private equity, and medical technology.

Harlan Robins, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer & Co-Founder

Dr. Harlan Robins is the Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies, a commercial-stage biotech company that aims to translate the genetics of the adaptive immune system into clinical products to diagnose and treat disease.

Prior to co-founding Adaptive, Harlan served in various roles at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) in the Computational Biology Program, including Assistant Faculty Member, Associate, and Full Member and Head of the program.

Harlan holds a BS in Physics from Harvard University and a master’s degree and PhD in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley, with a visiting appointment to the California Institute of Technology. Harlan received postdoctoral appointments in the particle theory group at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.

Interested in the mathematics behind genetics and observing the potential utility of high-level mathematics to study problems in the biological sciences, Harlan took another postdoctoral appointment at the Institute for Advance Study in Princeton under famed biologist Dr. Arnold Levine. With Dr. Levine, he concentrated on developing bioinformatic algorithms for micro RNA targets and bacterial genome analysis, a precursor to his faculty appointment at FHCRC in the Computational Biology Group, Public Health Sciences and Human Biology Divisions.

Nitin Sood, Chief Commercial Officer, MRD

Nitin Sood is the Chief Commercial Officer, MRD, of Adaptive Biotechnologies, a commercial-stage biotech company that aims to translate the genetics of the adaptive immune system into clinical products to diagnose and treat disease. Nitin has a wealth of experience in commercial expansion, product development and building successful businesses at leading life science and diagnostic companies, with a focus on the application of NGS in medicine and research. Most recently, he was Sr. Vice President of Product at Guardant Health where he led the commercial expansion of the company’s oncology portfolio to cover advanced and early-stage cancers, including the launch of Guardant Reveal for solid tumor MRD.

Prior to that he was CEO of NuGEN, a leader in NGS sample prep. His experience also includes leading global businesses at PerkinElmer and Agilent Technologies, where he held GM roles spanning a portfolio of products in genomics, pathology, and pre-clinical research. He holds master’s degrees in both computer science and molecular biology from Ball State University and Delhi University.

Mark Adams, PhD, Chief Operating Officer

Dr. Mark Adams is the Chief Operating Officer of Adaptive Biotechnologies, a commercial-stage biotech company that aims to translate the genetics of the adaptive immune system into clinical products to diagnose and treat disease. Prior to joining Adaptive, Mark served as Managing Director, Healthcare Advanced Analytics, at SVB Leerink, a health and life sciences-focused investment bank, since April 2018. Mark has also served as Chief Information Officer at Celmatix, a women’s health precision medicine company, from September 2016 to April 2018, and at Good Start Genetics, a molecular diagnostics company. Mark holds a BA from Oberlin College and a PhD from Baylor College of Medicine.

Francis Lo, Chief People Officer

Francis Lo is the Chief People Officer of Adaptive Biotechnologies, a commercial-stage biotech company that aims to translate the genetics of the adaptive immune system into clinical products to diagnose and treat disease. Francis brings a unique, multi-disciplinary perspective to leading People and Culture at Adaptive. Prior to joining Adaptive, Francis served as Vice President of Human Resources at Whole Foods Market. Previously, he also held leadership roles at Starbucks, including as Director of Global Talent Management and as Dean of Starbucks China University. In addition to his HR experience, Francis has worked in CPG Sales, Strategy, Consumer Insights, and Shopper Marketing, and he has served on the boards of multiple Non-Profit Organizations. Francis holds an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a BA in the Plan II Honors Program from the University of Texas at Austin.

Yi Zhou, Chief Technical Officer

Yi Zhou is the Chief Technical Officer of Adaptive Biotechnologies, a commercial-stage biotech company that aims to translate the genetics of the adaptive immune system into clinical products to diagnose and treat disease. Yi is a proven leader with successful experience building world-class organizations, with over 25 years of experience leading IT in a global environment, building enterprise systems, data analytics platforms and highly regulated medical device products. Before joining Adaptive, Yi led a variety of large-scale digital health initiatives at GE Healthcare and won the GE CEO award. Prior to that, Yi took on various senior leadership roles at Quest Diagnostics and Celera. Yi holds two master’s degrees – Microbiology from the University of Kansas and Computer Science from the University of Missouri. Yi also has a bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from Fudan University and four professional certificates in Agile process and software development.

Corporate Responsibility

At Adaptive, they aspire every day to create and cultivate a culture of belonging. As a lifelong conservationist and advocate for responsible consumption, for me, bringing my whole self to work means these passions come to the office with me.

Since Adaptive’s early years they’ve operated with environmental responsibility at top of mind. Disposal guides developed by lab staff ensure the safe and responsible handling of waste, and their facilities team oversees onsite compost and recycling options that reduce their impact. Their headquarters and Seattle locations supply EV charging as a parking option. For those commuting they provide options for covering the costs of mass transit, as well as incentives for walking or biking to work.