Onconova Therapeutics, Inc. announced the appointments of Peter Atadja, Ph.D., and Trafford Clarke, Ph.D., as independent members of the Company's Board of Directors. Dr. Atadja joins Onconova's Board with over two decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He is currently the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of CommBio Therapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to developing a new class of medicine for a spectrum of diseases by modulating intestinal functions.

Prior to joining CommBio, Dr. Atadja co-founded and served as the CSO of K36 Therapeutics, a biotechnology company that aims to translate epigenetic modulation of oncogenic pathways into first-in-class small molecule therapeutics. From 1997 – 2021, Dr. Atadja held roles of increasing responsibility at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, most recently serving as the company's Executive Director & Head, Drug Discovery & Translational Research. While at Novartis, he led the discovery, development, and registration of the first FDA and EMA approved HDAC inhibitor (FARYDAK®) and launched three major research programs (oncology, liver diseases, regenerative medicine), resulting in the addition of 20 novel targets, eight first-in-class candidates, and two clinical candidates to the company's global pipeline.

In 2008, Dr. Atadja was the Novartis VIVA Discovery Award Winner endowed with “Novartis Leading Scientist” title. He has a Ph.D. in molecular oncology from University of Calgary, a Master of Science in pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry from Hebrew University, and a Bachelor of Pharmacy in medicinal chemistry from Kumasi University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi, Ghana. Dr. Clarke is a pharmaceutical industry veteran who has dedicated his career to the discovery, development, and launch of new medicines.

He spent 31 years working in roles of increasing responsibility at Eli Lilly and Company before retiring in 2017, most recently serving as a Managing Director and UK Research and Development Site Head from 2013 to 2017. In this role, Dr. Clarke led a team of approximately 700 people and oversaw site productivity, infrastructure investment, and ethics and compliance standards. In addition, from 2013 to 2017, as Eli Lilly's European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations R&D representative, Dr. Clarke was a member of the Research Directors Group and championed Lilly's strategic engagement and leadership of 32 European Union Innovative Medicine Initiative projects.

From 2013 to 2017, he served as Board Member for Eli Lilly and Company Ltd.UK and was a member of the Innovation Board of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. From 2020 to present, Dr. Clarke served as a mentor to student entrepreneurs at the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund Program. Dr. Clarke has a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Imperial College, London, and a Bachelor of Science in organic chemistry from University of Liverpool.