Who are we
TVAX Biomedical is a clinical stage development company advancing its novel targeted cell-based immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer. Current cancer treatment options, which include surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy, are not adequately meeting patient needs. Radiation and chemotherapy are highly toxic and rarely “cure” the patient by permanently eliminating the cancer. With more than 1.5 million new cases of cancer diagnosed and more than 500,000 cancer deaths in the U.S. each year, more effective, less toxic treatment options are desperately needed.TVAX Immunotherapy Platform
TVAX’s immunotherapeutic cancer treatment platform is based upon more than 50 years of intensive scientific and medical research into the interactions between cancer and the immune system. This novel, proprietary immunotherapy platform has demonstrated the potential to effectively treat numerous cancers with extremely low toxicity, potentially offering a paradigm shift in the systemic treatment of cancer.
TVAX’s proprietary treatment has received orphan product designation from FDA for the treatment of any primary central nervous system malignancy, providing the company with 7 years of marketing exclusivity following FDA marketing approval.
Management Team
Wayne O. Carter, D.V.M., Ph.D., Diplomate ACVIM, TVAX’s Chief Executive Officer joined TVAX Biomedical in 2019 and serves as a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to that, he served as the President and CEO of BioNexus KC leading the transformation of the Kansas City region into a nationally recognized center of excellence in human and animal health research, development and commercialization. Dr. Carter has more than 18 years of Fortune 500 experience in pharmaceutical and nutrition R&D, and in his role at Pfizer as Executive Director of Global Clinical Development, he accelerated the development of many drugs using novel clinical technologies. His board appointments include MRI Global and Acenxion Biosystems. Dr. Carter received his B.S., D.V.M., and Ph.D. in Immunology from Purdue University.
Gary W. Wood, Ph.D., founded TVAX Biomedical in 2004 and currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors. He served as President and CEO of the company from the company’s inception until December 2012. Dr. Wood is the inventor and principal developer of the TVAX Immunotherapy® technology. Dr. Wood guided the development of TVAX Immunotherapy from concept through its most recent human clinical trials. Dr. Wood organized and coordinated the Phase 1 / 2 clinical trials performed at University of Kansas Medical Center and at Wayne State University and managed the scientific/clinical teams that performed the trials. Dr. Wood was Professor of Pathology, Director of the Diagnostic Immunology Laboratory and Director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Laboratory at KU Medical Center. Dr. Wood also was Professor of Medicine and Director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Laboratory at Wayne State University. Dr. Wood has a B.A. from Kalamazoo College and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Tammie A. Wahaus, CPA, CGMA, joined TVAX Biomedical in 2012 and serves as our Chief Financial Officer and prior to that provided services as a consultant to the company. Ms. Wahaus is also Chief Executive Officer of Elias Animal Health, a subsidiary of the company. Ms. Wahaus has more than 25 years of experience in both public accounting and private business. She has served as Vice President-Finance for Epiq Systems, Inc., as an audit partner with Ernst & Young LLP providing services to public and private companies and as Controller and Principal Accounting Officer for GE Global Insurance Holding Corporation, a public company. She has a B.S. in Business Administration from Kansas State University.
Barry S. Skikne, M.D. has served as Chief Medical Officer since 2017, board member since 2011 and scientific advisor since the company’s inception. Dr. Skikne is Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Hematology/Oncology. Prior to re-joining KUMC in 2016, Dr. Skikne served as the Executive Director of Clinical Research at Celgene Pharmaceuticals from 2008 to 2016. At Celgene, Dr. Skikne oversaw several large international Phase III clinical trials. Dr. Skikne is the author of more than ninety journal articles and book chapters. He has a B.S. (M.B.B.Ch.,) from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, SA and an M.D. and residency in Hematology and Oncology from the College of Physicians of South Africa.
Jean Aguiar, APRN, MSN, MBA, joined TVAX Biomedical in 2022 as the Head of Clinical Operations. Ms. Aguiar is an advanced practice board certified nurse and MBA with over thirty years of clinical trial management experience at Pfizer, Inc and numerous small biotechnology companies. Ms. Aguiar has deep and wide oncology drug development expertise including in protocol development, data and safety review and reporting, project and clinical trial site management, and quality assurance oversight. In addition to trial conduct leadership at Pfizer, Ms. Aguiar was responsible for territory expansion, training of new investigators and teams and key investigator (KOL) and patient advocacy partnership liaisons relationships. She has directed clinical development and management of all aspects of all phases of global clinical research studies at Pfizer including oncology phase I and II, resulting in numerous regulatory submissions and successful product launches.
Board of Directors
Wayne O. Carter, D.V.M., Ph.D., Diplomate ACVIM, TVAX’s Chief Executive Officer joined TVAX Biomedical in 2019 and serves as a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to that, he served as the President and CEO of BioNexus KC leading the transformation of the Kansas City region into a nationally recognized center of excellence in human and animal health research, development and commercialization. Dr. Carter has more than 18 years of Fortune 500 experience in pharmaceutical and nutrition R&D, and in his role at Pfizer as Executive Director of Global Clinical Development, he accelerated the development of many drugs using novel clinical technologies. His board appointments include MRI Global and Acenxion Biosystems. Dr. Carter received his B.S., D.V.M., and Ph.D. in Immunology from Purdue University.
Gary W. Wood, Ph.D., founded TVAX Biomedical in 2004 and currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors. He served as President and CEO of the company from the company’s inception until December 2012. Dr. Wood is the inventor and principal developer of the TVAX Immunotherapy® technology. Dr. Wood guided the development of TVAX Immunotherapy from concept through its most recent human clinical trials. Dr. Wood organized and coordinated the Phase 1 / 2 clinical trials performed at University of Kansas Medical Center and at Wayne State University and managed the scientific/clinical teams that performed the trials. Dr. Wood was Professor of Pathology, Director of the Diagnostic Immunology Laboratory and Director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Laboratory at KU Medical Center. Dr. Wood also was Professor of Medicine and Director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Laboratory at Wayne State University. Dr. Wood has a B.A. from Kalamazoo College and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Wesley E. Griffitt, M.D., has served as a director since December 2011. Dr. Griffitt is a board-certified neurosurgeon involved in brain tumor immunotherapy research dating back to his residency training. The surgical treatment of metastatic and primary brain cancers is part of his clinical practice at Health First in Melbourne, Florida. Dr. Griffitt was previously Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin and serves as the Neuroscience Medical Education Program director at Aurora Baycare Medical Center. Dr. Griffitt served as Chief of Neurosurgery at David Grant Medical Center (1997 to June 2000). Dr. Griffitt received his M.D. from the University of Kansas School of Medicine and completed his Neurosurgical Residency at Loyola University in Chicago.
Barry S. Skikne, M.D. has served as Chief Medical Officer since 2017, board member since 2011 and scientific advisor since the company’s inception. Dr. Skikne is Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Hematology/Oncology. Prior to re-joining KUMC in 2016, Dr. Skikne served as the Executive Director of Clinical Research at Celgene Pharmaceuticals from 2008 to 2016. At Celgene, Dr. Skikne oversaw several large international Phase III clinical trials. Dr. Skikne is the author of more than ninety journal articles and book chapters. He has a B.S. (M.B.B.Ch.,) from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, SA and an M.D. and residency in Hematology and Oncology from the College of Physicians of South Africa.
Chuck Burton former Chief Operating Officer (now retired) of Nations Holding Company and President of Foreclosure Management Company. During his time with nations, he developed and implemented strategic business plans leading to substantial revenue and profit growth for the company. He has developed both the structure and the team required to guide the company through the turbulence and uncertainty of the real estate market. As COO of Nations Holding Company, Chuck has shaped a business environment where growth and development flourish for more than 20 businesses. In the past he served on Children’s Mercy Hospital Board of Volunteers and was a regular volunteer at Children’s Mercy Hospital and Johnson County Mental Health. Mr. Burton has a proven executive management track record and over 35 years of experience driving sales and growth in the banking industry. Since retiring Chuck has been active in the educational development of children in the Dominican Republic.
Catherine E. Lucasey, M.A., BSN, is a co-founder and has served as a director since inception. From 1990 through 2011, Ms. Lucasey worked as the nurse manager of the Endocrine Division at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Ms. Lucasey is a registered nurse with 25 years of experience in the health care industry with clinical research experience (Sponsor and CRO) in the drug development process, clinical trial operations, subject recruitment, retention, consumer education and direct patient care. She has served on the Boards of the Endocrine Nurses Society and Arts in Prison and is a regular volunteer at Big Brothers Big Sisters. She has a B.S.N. and M.A.s in Marketing and Management from Webster University.
Peter C. Brown, is Chairman of Grassmere Partners, LLC, a private investment firm. Prior to founding Grassmere Partners, Mr. Brown served as Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and President of AMC Entertainment Inc., one of the world’s leading theatrical exhibition companies, from 1999 until 2009 and Chief Financial Officer from 1991to 1999. In 1997 he founded EPR Properties (NYSE: EPR) a real estate investment trust and served as non-executive Chairman of the Board of Trustees until 2003. He currently serves on the board of EPR Properties where he is a member of the audit committee and chair of the finance committee. Mr. Brown also currently serves on the board of directors and audit committee of Lumen Technologies, Inc., (NYSE: LUMN) an international facilities-based technology, and communications company, and he serves on the board of directors, audit, compensation, and nominating committees of Cineverse Corp., (NASDAQ: CNVS) a streaming technology and entertainment company. Mr. Brown has also previously served on the boards of National CineMedia, Inc., Midway Games, Inc., LabOne, Inc., Protection One, Inc. and CEC Entertainment, Inc. Mr. Brown is a graduate of the University of Kansas.