MabVax Therapeutics, Inc. Appoints Tom Varvaro To Its Board Of Directors

SAN DIEGO, April 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- MabVax Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: MBVX) ("MabVax" or "Company"), a clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy company, announced today that Tom Varvaro has joined the Company's Board of Directors as an Independent Director. The appointment of Mr. Varvaro brings the total number of directors to seven.

Mr. Varvaro, age 45, has served as the CFO of ChromaDex Corp. (OTCQX: CDXC) since January 2004 and served as a director from March 2006 until May 2010.  At ChromaDex, Tom is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Company's accounting, IT, intellectual property, and human resources.  From 1998 to 2004, Mr. Varvaro was employed by Fast Heat Inc. where he began as controller and was promoted to CIO and ultimately CFO. From 1993 to 1998, Varvaro worked at Maple Leaf Bakery, Inc. during which time the company became a national leader in specialty bakery products. He has extensive process mapping and business process improvement skills, along with a solid information technology background that includes management and implementation experiences ranging from custom application design to enterprise wide system deployment. Mr. Varvaro also has broad legal experience in intellectual property (IP), contract and employment law. Tom has a B.S. in Accounting from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and is a CPA.

Mr. Varvaro commented, "I am excited about the prospects of MabVax given both its extensive antibody library as well as its pipeline of clinical products.  I am proud to serve on the Board and look forward to working with David Hansen and the entire MabVax team in creating and maximizing shareholder value."

Commenting on the announcement, David Hansen, President and CEO of MabVax, stated, "The appointment of Tom gives our Board a director that has extensive accounting, intellectual property and capital markets experience.  His insight will be valuable in many aspects including defining and executing on a plan to have our shares listed on a national exchange."

About MabVax:
MabVax Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. is a cancer immunotherapy company focused on the development of vaccine and antibody-based therapies to address unmet medical needs in the treatment of cancer.  MabVax has discovered a pipeline of human monoclonal antibody products based on the protective immune responses generated by patients who have been immunized against targeted cancers with the Company's proprietary vaccines. MabVax is preparing to enter two Phase I trials for its HuMab 5B1 antibody and companion diagnostic later this year.  MabVax has the exclusive license to the therapeutic vaccines from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.  MabVax has two cancer vaccines targeting recurrent sarcoma and ovarian cancer in proof of concept Phase II multi-center clinical trials, and a vaccine targeting neuroblastoma ready for Phase II clinical development.

Additional information about the Company is available at www.mabvax.com.

Forward Looking Statements:
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" regarding matters that are not historical facts, including statements relating to the Company's development pipeline.  We are unable to provide assurance that all of the product development candidates in the pipeline will be fully developed by the Company.   Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  Words such as "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "intends," "will," "potential," "hope" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations of the Company and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect.  Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties.  Detailed information regarding factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by statements in this press release relating to the Company may be found in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the factors described in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014 (as amended April 2, 2015)  and the Company's Current Reports on Form 8-K filed March 26, 2015 and April 2, 2015.  The parties do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

MabVax Therapeutics Investor Contact:  

Robert B. Prag, President
The Del Mar Consulting Group, Inc.
858-794-9500
bprag@delmarconsulting.com

or

Scott Wilfong, President
Alex Partners, LLC
425-242-0891
scott@alexpartnersllc.com  

Company Contact:

MabVax Therapeutics, Inc.
David Hansen, President and CEO
858-259-9405 x 301
dhansen@mabvax.com

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SOURCE MabVax Therapeutics Holdings, Inc.