Translational Biotechnology Company Developing Novel Immunotherapies for Brain Tumor Patients

ABOUT

StemVax Therapeutics is a Translational Biotechnology Company that develops novel therapies for brain tumor patients.  We focus our efforts on developing immunotherapeutic approaches to treating patients with Glioblastoma, a devastating brain cancer. We also focus our research efforts on novel drug development to target Cancer Stem cells and other multi-resistant cancer cells.  

StemVax became a wholly-owned subsidiary of NovAccess Global, Inc. in October of 2020 in order to rapidly accelerate R&D through clinical trials and successfully bring safe and efficacious novel immunotherapeutics to market.  

We seek to make a difference in Glioblastoma and other brain tumor patients’ lives through novel immunotherapeutics.

 

TECHNOLOGY

Glioblastoma is the most prevalent adult brain tumor with a 15-month median survival time after diagnosis. StemVax Therapeutics has developed a novel immunotherapeutic method to treat brain tumor patients with this disease. Our patented method aims to generate an improved immune response against the patient’s tumor by combining a dendritic cell-based immunotherapeutic approach with a special mixture of Toll-like receptor (TLR) adjuvants, TLR-AD1. By employing the antigens exclusive to the patient’s tumor, our platform technology focuses on boosting the patient’s immune cells to combat their particular cancer.

Pre-clinical tests have indicated that our special mix of TLR adjuvants, in addition to the tumor’s antigens, collected from the patient, stimulates an increased immune response that is more effective than prior generations of the therapy. StemVax Therapeutics hopes to begin human clinical trials after receiving IND approval for TLR-AD1 treatment, which is currently in the investigational new drug (IND) filing stage.

Cutting-Edge Research & Creativity to Face the Unknown

Keeping Dreams Alive Through Immunotherapy

Treating Disease with Stem Cell Immunology

TEAM

President

Dr. Christopher Wheeler, Ph.D.

Dr. Wheeler has over 30 years of immunology and neurology research experience. His leadership experience is highlighted by his position and previous roles at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center Department of Neurosurgery. Dr. Wheeler was a Professor in the Department for over 15 years and also served as Director for Precision Medicine Initiative for Brain Tumors and Glioma Immunotherapy Core. His research has been highlighted by publication in numerous high impact paradigm shifting manuscripts and several patents.  Dr. Wheeler has executed scientific aspects of commercialization, validation, funding, and marketing for the development of novel therapeutics for brain tumor and neurodegenerative diseases.

 

Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Dwain Irvin, Ph.D., MPH

Dr. Irvin leads all basic science and clinical research projects.  He received his PhD from UCLA School of Medicine, MPH, from UCLA School of Public Health, and trained at The Wallenberg Neuroscience Center at Lund University in Lund, Sweden. He was also a Professor, Faculty member at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Department of Neurosurgery.

Dr. Irvin received his PhD in Pharmacology and Developmental Neuroscience with an emphasis on neural stem cell fate and differentiation.  His research focused on neural development and Notch Signaling in mammalian neural stem cells.  He also worked as an NIH/NINDS Post-Doctoral Fellow in Dr. Anders Bjorklund laboratory in Lund, Sweden. There, his focus was on research projects that investigated the potential role of cell replacement therapy for patients with Parkinson’s disease.  They developed several protocols for the efficient generation of dopaminergic neurons from forebrain and ventral midbrain stem and progenitor cells.  Dr. Irvin also worked as a Research Scientist, Assistant Professor, and Faculty member at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Department of Neurosurgery.  He led research investigations in the role of adaptive immunity in Parkinson’s disease.  He also developed two patents in the area of immunotherapy for brain tumor patients, specifically Glioblastoma.  His research team focused on molecular mechanisms that impart therapeutic resistance in cancer cells, including cancer stem cells. They utilized these data to develop novel immunotherapies for brain tumor patients.

Chief Technical Officer

Dr. Andrew Norris, Ph.D.

Dr. Andrew Norris has a varied background in both business and the technology sector.  He is Co-founder of The Midvale Group LLC in 2002, consulting in both the technology and biotechnology sector.  Dr. Norris has also Co-founded BCN Biosciences in Pasadena CA (2005), which is a privately held biotechnology company whose principal focus is in the area of oncology drug development. Dr. Norris has been directly responsible for, or co-raised over $20M in funding for the technology and Biotechnology sector.  He currently serves as an officer/director at BCN Biosciences and also holds a research faculty position at the University of California Los Angeles Department of Radiation Oncology.   

Dr. Norris received his PhD from UCLA School of Medicine, Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology.  His research focused on synthesizing molecular inhibitors against cancer cells. He also trained in the Surgical Oncology Department at UCLA focusing his research on novel drug discovery for breast cancer patients.

StemVax Therapeutics was the recipient of the

2019 Pasadena Pharmaceutical Company Award

Translational Biotechnology Company Developing Novel Immunotherapies for Brain

Tumor Patients

ABOUT

StemVax Therapeutics is a Translational Biotechnology Company that develops novel therapies for brain tumor patients.  We focus our efforts on developing immunotherapeutic approaches to treating patients with Glioblastoma, a devastating brain cancer. We also focus our research efforts on novel drug development to target Cancer Stem cells and other multi-resistant cancer cells.  

StemVax became a wholly-owned subsidiary of NovAccess Global, Inc. in October of 2020 in order to rapidly accelerate R&D through clinical trials and successfully bring safe and efficacious novel immunotherapeutics to market.  

We seek to make a difference in Glioblastoma and other brain tumor patients’ lives through novel immunotherapeutics.

 

TECHNOLOGY

Glioblastoma is the most prevalent adult brain tumor with a 15-month median survival time after diagnosis. StemVax Therapeutics has developed a novel immunotherapeutic method to treat brain tumor patients with this disease. Our patented method aims to generate an improved immune response against the patient’s tumor by combining a dendritic cell-based immunotherapeutic approach with a special mixture of Toll-like receptor (TLR) adjuvants, TLR-AD1. By employing the antigens exclusive to the patient’s tumor, our platform technology focuses on boosting the patient’s immune cells to combat their particular cancer.

Pre-clinical tests have indicated that our special mix of TLR adjuvants, in addition to the tumor’s antigens, collected from the patient, stimulates an increased immune response that is more effective than prior generations of the therapy. StemVax Therapeutics hopes to begin human clinical trials after receiving IND approval for TLR-AD1 treatment, which is currently in the investigational new drug (IND) filing stage.

TEAM

President

Dr. Christopher Wheeler, Ph.D.

Dr. Wheeler has over 30 years of immunology and neurology research experience. His leadership experience is highlighted by his position and previous roles at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center Department of Neurosurgery. Dr. Wheeler was a Professor in the Department for over 15 years and also served as Director for Precision Medicine Initiative for Brain Tumors and Glioma Immunotherapy Core. His research has been highlighted by publication in numerous high impact paradigm shifting manuscripts and several patents.  Dr. Wheeler has executed scientific aspects of commercialization, validation, funding, and marketing for the development of novel therapeutics for brain tumor and neurodegenerative diseases.

 

Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Dwain Irvin, Ph.D., MPH

Dr. Irvin leads all basic science and clinical research projects.  He received his PhD from UCLA School of Medicine, MPH, from UCLA School of Public Health, and trained at The Wallenberg Neuroscience Center at Lund University in Lund, Sweden. He was also a Professor, Faculty member at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Department of Neurosurgery.

Dr. Irvin received his PhD in Pharmacology and Developmental Neuroscience with an emphasis on neural stem cell fate and differentiation.  His research focused on neural development and Notch Signaling in mammalian neural stem cells.  He also worked as an NIH/NINDS Post-Doctoral Fellow in Dr. Anders Bjorklund laboratory in Lund, Sweden. There, his focus was on research projects that investigated the potential role of cell replacement therapy for patients with Parkinson’s disease.  They developed several protocols for the efficient generation of dopaminergic neurons from forebrain and ventral midbrain stem and progenitor cells.  Dr. Irvin also worked as a Research Scientist, Assistant Professor, and Faculty member at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Department of Neurosurgery.  He led research investigations in the role of adaptive immunity in Parkinson’s disease.  He also developed two patents in the area of immunotherapy for brain tumor patients, specifically Glioblastoma.  His research team focused on molecular mechanisms that impart therapeutic resistance in cancer cells, including cancer stem cells. They utilized these data to develop novel immunotherapies for brain tumor patients.

Legal Counsel

Dr. Peter Weinstein, Ph.D.

Dr. Weinstein counsels in all aspects of intellectual property, transaction and corporate law.  He received his Juris Doctorate degree at Boston College Law School. Dr. Weinstein is a registered patent attorney and is licensed to practice law in California and is admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Central and Southern Districts of California. 

Previously, Dr. Weinstein worked for many years as Senior Patent Counsel at Baxter Healthcare Corporation where he was responsible for managing legal and intellectual property matters for Baxter’s major hemophilia products like Advate® and major research and development programs in hemophilia. This work entailed working with multidisciplinary teams in the United States, Europe and Asia. Prior to Baxter, Dr. Weinstein worked in the San Diego Offices of the law firms of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison and Fish & Richardson where his practice focused on the management and prosecution of patent portfolios for biotech and high tech companies and patent and general civil litigation. During law school, he worked full-time as a patent agent in the Boston Office of Goodwin Procter. Dr. Weinstein also worked as an Examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office followed by a stint as a Senior Scientist at a biotech company where he was responsible for the Animal Health Group developing vaccines and other therapeutics for the treatment of infectious disease in large animals.  

Dr. Weinstein received his Ph.D. in Biology with an emphasis in Immunology from the University of Pennsylvania. Following receipt of his Ph.D., Dr. Weinstein worked as a Research Fellow, first at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland and then at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease in Frederick, Maryland where he investigated the molecular development of antibody diversity and developed vaccines. 

Chief Technical Officer

Dr. Andrew Norris, Ph.D.

Dr. Andrew Norris has a varied background in both business and the technology sector.  He is Co-founder of The Midvale Group LLC in 2002, consulting in both the technology and biotechnology sector.  Dr. Norris has also Co-founded BCN Biosciences in Pasadena CA (2005), which is a privately held biotechnology company whose principal focus is in the area of oncology drug development. Dr. Norris has been directly responsible for, or co-raised over $20M in funding for the technology and Biotechnology sector.  He currently serves as an officer/director at BCN Biosciences and also holds a research faculty position at the University of California Los Angeles Department of Radiation Oncology.   

Dr. Norris received his PhD from UCLA School of Medicine, Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology.  His research focused on synthesizing molecular inhibitors against cancer cells. He also trained in the Surgical Oncology Department at UCLA focusing his research on novel drug discovery for breast cancer patients.

StemVax Therapeutics was the recipient of the 2019 Pasadena Pharmaceutical Company Award

Cutting-Edge Research & Creativity to Face the Unknown

Keeping Dreams Alive Through Immunotherapy

Treating Disease with Stem Cell Immunology