Replicate Bioscience, a company pioneering novel self-replicating RNA (srRNA) technology for use in infectious disease, oncology, and autoimmune disease, has appointed Rachael Lester Chief Business Officer. Lester, who has more than 20 years of experience as a senior executive in the biopharmaceutical industry, will be responsible for leading corporate strategy, business development, portfolio strategy, and new product planning.

Lester joins Replicate from Harpoon Therapeutics, a clinical-stage immunotherapy company, where she most recently served as senior vice president, business development and corporate Strategy. In this role, Lester oversaw the company’s business development strategy and transactions, including global strategic partnerships with AbbVie and Roche, and supported multiple financings culminating in approximately $400 million in dilutive and non-dilutive funding.

Prior to her time at Harpoon, Lester served as vice president of product and marketing for Bruin Biometrics, where she drove commercialization into Europe, new product planning, and ongoing R&D collaborations and commercial distribution partnerships.

Lester served as global head of strategic asset management at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, where she was responsible for portfolio management, strategic finance, sell-side corporate development and innovation initiatives through the approvals of Kyprolis and Stivarga, and the $10.4B acquisition of Onyx by Amgen.

“I am delighted to welcome Rachael to the Replicate leadership team. Rachael has demonstrated an ability to drive growth and value at leading companies in our sector,” said Nathaniel Wang, CEO at Replicate. “Rachael is joining our organization at an important time, as we advance our robust pipeline of srRNA therapies into the clinic. Her leadership experience and proven track record in business development, sales and marketing, and finance will be invaluable for Replicate’s corporate growth, leveraging our srRNA platform to unlock novel therapeutic applications and bring new treatment options to patients worldwide.”

“I’ve been following Replicate’s impressive progress to date and am enthusiastic to be joining an organization with such a distinct approach to overcoming traditional challenges in the development of RNA therapeutics,” said Lester. “I look forward to contributing my expertise to help advance Replicate’s patient-focused vision of enabling broadly accessible srRNA therapeutics.