TRexBio Expands Leadership Team with Appointments of Ariella Kelman, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer and Brandon Hants, MBA, as Chief Financial Officer

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SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 8, 2025--

TRex Bio, Inc. (“TRexBio”), a biotechnology company decoding human tissue immune biology to create revolutionary therapeutics, today announced the expansion of its executive leadership team with the appointments of Ariella Kelman, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Brandon Hants, MBA, as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). These leadership additions will support TRexBio as the company prepares to initiate its first-in-human clinical trial of TRB-061, a novel TNFR2 agonist for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

“Brandon and Ariella join TRexBio at a pivotal moment as we transition into a clinical-stage company,” said Johnston Erwin, TRexBio’s Chief Executive Officer. “Their deep expertise in clinical development and financial strategy will be instrumental in advancing TRB-061 into the clinic, progressing the next programs in our pipeline, and positioning TRexBio for long-term success.”

Dr. Kelman is a rheumatologist with over 20 years of experience leading clinical development and global programs for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Most recently, she served as CMO at Biora Therapeutics and previously led clinical development at Human Immunology Biosciences. Earlier in her career, Dr. Kelman spent 15 years at Genentech/Roche, where she led clinical development programs for several new medicines for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases and served as global head of bioethics for Roche. Dr. Kelman was an attending physician for 10 years in the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology at Stanford University Hospital.

“TRexBio’s approach for decoding tissue-resident immune biology is uniquely positioned to unlock first-in-class disease-modifying therapies for patients with immune mediated diseases,” said Dr. Kelman. “I’m excited to join the team as we bring TRB-061 into the clinic and work to validate the potential of TNFR2 agonism to deliver real benefit for patients.”

Mr. Hants has more than 25 years of experience leading finance, accounting, and corporate functions, and scaling biopharma and life sciences organizations for growth. He was most recently CFO at Applied Molecular Transport, a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, oral therapeutics to treat severe autoimmune, metabolic, and inflammatory diseases. Before that, Mr. Hants was CFO at Singulex, and earlier held roles of increasing responsibility at Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics and Genentech.

“TRexBio has built a powerful platform with the potential to reshape how immune-mediated diseases are treated,” said Mr. Hants. “I’m thrilled to join at this inflection point and help scale the company’s financial strategy to support its growth into a clinical organization.”

About TRexBio

TRexBio is a biotechnology company developing purpose-built therapeutics leveraging cutting-edge computational biology tools, a focus on human tissue, and deep immunobiology expertise. The company’s Deep Biology platform maps human tissue Treg behavior to disease processes to identify and characterize novel targets for therapeutic intervention. TRexBio’s lead program, TRB-061, is a novel TNFR2 agonist designed to activate suppressive tissue Tregs and restore immune balance in inflammatory diseases. TRexBio is headquartered in South San Francisco, California. For more info, visit www.trex.bio.

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408390088/en/

CONTACT: Company: Laura Berner, J.D., MBA, Chief Operating Officer, TRex Bio, Inc.,[email protected]

Media: Jessica Yingling, Ph.D.,Little Dog Communications Inc.,[email protected]

KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CALIFORNIA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: SCIENCE BIOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH GENERAL HEALTH HEALTH INFECTIOUS DISEASES CLINICAL TRIALS OTHER HEALTH

SOURCE: TRex Bio, Inc.

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PUB: 04/08/2025 09:00 AM/DISC: 04/08/2025 09:00 AM

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