07.12.22
Press Releases
SAN DIEGO, Calif., July 12, 2022/PRNewswire/ — Replicate Bioscience, a company pioneering self-replicating RNA (srRNA) therapies for use against cancers, immune and inflammatory disorders, and other diseases, announced today that Zelanna Goldberg, M.D., will join the company as Chief Medical Officer and Mohit Trikha, Ph.D., will join the company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately.
“Over the past year, Replicate has made rapid and very encouraging progress in growing our organization and advancing our pipeline with multiple oncology and infectious disease programs entering the clinic in 2023,” said Replicate co-founder and CEO Nathaniel Wang, Ph.D. “As we prepare for our lead oncology programs to enter the clinic, we are pleased to welcome Zelanna to our leadership team and Mo to our Board. Both bring to Replicate significant expertise in all aspects of oncology drug development, and both have a stellar track record of successfully delivering new innovations in cancer treatment to patients.”
Zelanna Goldberg is a radiation oncologist with over 20 years’ experience in drug development and industry leadership. Dr. Goldberg was most recently Chief Medical Officer at Alpine Immune Sciences, and before that, she was Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at Iovance Biotherapeutics, where she led development programs in non-small cell lung cancers, head and neck cancers, and combination strategies. Prior to Iovance, she spent nearly nine years at Pfizer, where she held positions of increasing responsibility in global clinical development and worked on three successful global registrational studies. Dr. Goldberg recently co-developed the clinical materials for the Master of Science in Drug Development Program at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), and before joining industry she was an associate professor at the University of California Davis, where she had an active clinical practice alongside a research program on the cellular and molecular effects of low-dose radiation. She earned her M.D. from the University of Toronto, where she completed her residency in radiation oncology, and a master’s degree in Healthcare Organization Leadership from UCSD. She is an inventor on multiple patents.
“I am honored to join the amazing team of recognized RNA leaders at Replicate Bioscience,” Dr. Goldberg said. “Replicate has a cutting-edge srRNA technology platform that is poised to make breakthrough treatments in oncology, infectious diseases, and immunology. The power of being able to target multiple cancer mutations simultaneously with an extremely favorable tolerability profile is a tremendous prospect, and I am delighted to be part of the team making this a reality for people living with cancer.”
Mohit Trikha is a venture partner at ATP (Apple Tree Partners), the main investor in Replicate Bioscience. In more than two decades of drug discovery and development work, he has helped develop multiple approved cancer medicines. Before joining ATP, Dr. Trikha was Vice President and Head of Oncology Early Development at AbbVie and the site head of AbbVie Bay Area. At AbbVie, he was accountable for leading teams advancing oncology discovery stage programs— including small molecules, bispecifics, ADCs, IO and CAR-T cell therapies—up to clinical proof of concept. He was a core member of oncology business development committees, chaired AbbVie’s Oncology Early Development Review Committee, and led external joint governance collaborations with TeneoBio, Trishula, Calibr, and Jacobio, as well as a multi-therapeutic collaboration with Scripps Research. He also represented AbbVie on the board of California Life Sciences. Prior to AbbVie, Dr. Trikha was President, Chief Scientific Officer, and Head of Triphase Accelerator and served on the Triphase Board of Directors. Prior to this, he worked at Genentech, Ambit, and Centocor/Johnson & Johnson in various research and development roles. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to the advancement of more than 30 oncology programs. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California (USC) and was an Assistant Professor of Research at Wayne State University before joining industry.
“Self-replicating RNA is an innovative approach with the potential to deliver transformative medicines to patients,” Dr. Trikha said. “I am pleased to join the Board and look forward to helping the science-driven team at Replicate accelerate the development of next generation srRNA therapeutics.”
Replicate Bioscience, an ATP company, is designing and delivering srRNA immunotherapies to revolutionize the practice of medicine and improve and save lives. Replicate applies advanced srRNA technology in its work to prevent drug resistance in cancers. The company is also developing srRNA approaches in infectious diseases and for sustained therapeutic protein expression to treat autoimmune and inflammatory disorders and other conditions. Replicate believes that srRNA will bring about the next big breakthroughs in RNA therapeutics and is working to realize the promise of srRNA for all patients. For more information, visit replicatebioscience.com.
Sally Jacob
ATP (Apple Tree Partners)