Batu Biologics Recruits Dr. Vijay Mahant as the Vice President of Precision Oncology to Oversee the Personalization of ValloVax Immunogenicity

“Recently, the Company has identified correlations in the expression of specific HLA alleles found in responders to therapy that can potentially be used for selection of the ideal candidates to receive the ValloVax immunotherapy,” stated Samuel C. Wagner, President and CEO of Batu Biologics. “Dr. Mahant will be collaborating with Batu Biologics and our network of collaborators to design experiments to validate this observed correlation in the preclinical setting. These next sets of experiments will give the Company guidance on how to design later stage trials focused on the demonstration of efficacy in a controlled clinical trial setting.”

Dr. Mahant graduated from LUT (UK) and he received his second post-doctorate from UT Health Science Center at Houston/MD Anderson, TX, USA. Dr. Mahant is a scientist and an entrepreneur with more than 33 years of experience in immuno- and molecular diagnostics. He has held senior positions at well-known companies such as Nichols Institute (part of Quest) and Igen, and executive positions at QualiGen and AGI. He is founder/co-founder of diagnostic companies with diverse experiences in RD, and has worked with hospitals/medical institutes such as Mayo Clinic (‘87-’89, “New Generation” ultra-sensitive TSH test). Dr. Mahant has been involved in fund raising, Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), and he has 25 issued patents and 15 patents pending; he has authored and/or co-authored publications. He has developed more than 35 products with multimillion dollars in revenues. Dr. Mahant has managed intellectual property, including in and out licensing, and he has experience in government regulations (FDA and foreign) and provided technical support for many of the products.

Currently, Batu Biologics has received Investigational New Drug Application clearance for the ValloVax immunotherapy, enabling the Company to proceed with clinical trials in the United States to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the investigational product. The Company is currently preparing to launch a 10-patient Phase I study focused on safety and immunogenicity of ValloVax at two dose levels where we do not have previous clinical experience. The results of this study should optimize dose concentration for future clinical studies.

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