About | BacVax

Our mission is to reduce the burden of
bacterial infections on humanity and
animals in “the post-antibiotic” era.

BacVax, Inc., a Delaware corporation with headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, is developing vaccines against bacteria. BacVax holds an Exclusive Patent License Agreement to use the BVP platform in conjunction with additional patent applications targeting bacteria. BacVax has already garnered attention of strategic partners to explore human and animal market opportunities.

Vision

Vision: BacVax employs an innovative “omics” approach, termed the Bacterial Vaccine Polypeptide (“BVP”) platform (applicable to any organism) to design vaccines that prevent bacterial infections. BacVax will use the BVP platform to create a pipeline of new vaccines for select human and animal diseases. BacVax will engage partners, on a per product basis, in licensing agreements for product development, clinical studies, regulatory approval, and marketing.

Patents

The technology reflected in the patent applications is the result of decades of research enabled by recent developments in bioinformatics and related technologies. One patent application reflects the platform innovation while the other patent application reflects the discovery of peptides incorporated into the nontypeable H. influenzae product. The University of Arizona took the lead in administering the patent applications on behalf of Phoenix Children’s Hospital (“PCH”) and the University of Oklahoma. BacVax entered into an Exclusive Patent License Agreement with the University of Arizona, Tech Launch Arizona, for the technologies reflected in both patent applications. BacVax’s license includes all rights associated with Patent Cooperation Treaty (“PCT”) applications PCT/US16/36180 and PCT/US19/56298.

Terrence L. Stull, M.D., is trained in Pediatric Infectious Diseases and has decades of research on bacteria, specifically H. influenzae. Dr. Stull is the past Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and most recently was the Senior Vice-President of Research at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. He is also a professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix, where he oversaw molecular genetics vaccine research.

Dr. Stull’s colleagues at BacVax include Paul Whitby, Ph.D., Huda Mussa, Ph.D., and Bryan Cole. Dr. Stull and his colleagues are scientists primarily responsible for the discoveries set forth in the patent applications during their work at the University of Oklahoma and PCH. The company leased laboratory space in the newly constructed Phoenix Biomedical Campus (aka the “Wexford Building”), where the team is applying its proprietary approach to laboratory and bioinformatics research.

Terrence L. Stull, M.D.

Terrence L. Stull, M.D., is President and Chief Scientific Officer of BacVax. He is responsible for the administrative and scientific direction of BacVax’s development of Bacterial Vaccine Polypeptides. His education and training include his M.D. from the University of Birmingham in Alabama, residency training at Stanford, and Pediatric Infectious Diseases training at the University of Washington. He practiced medicine for >30 years, and he led an NIH-funded research team focused on H. influenzae pathogenesis for >25 years. Dr. Stull was Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center for 22 years with annual operating budget growth from $15 Million to $120 Million. Most recently he led the administration of over 500 clinical research studies as the Senior Vice-President of Research at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. He is also a professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix, where he oversaw the research that resulted in the Bacterial Vaccine Polypeptide platform.

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Paul W. Whitby, Ph.D.

Paul W. Whitby, Ph.D. is the Director of Genomics and Protein Structural Biology at BacVax. Dr. Whitby specializes in the computational identification of potential Vaccine Targets and leads the investigations characterizing their analysis and utility. Paul received B.Sc. Hons from the University of Wales and Ph.D. in molecular genetics from the University of Nottingham. Post-doctoral training was completed with the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department. After joining our team in 1995, he was promoted to Research Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma where he investigated the pathogenesis of Haemophilus influenzae. Subsequent research focused on characterizing the methods for identifying H. influenzae Vaccine Targets.

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Huda Mussa, Ph.D.

Huda Mussa, Ph.D. is a Senior Scientist at BacVax. She brings over 40 years of research experience to BacVax, including expertise in protein analytics, molecular and cellular biology, and bioinformatics. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Mussa grew up in multicultural Lebanon speaking 3 languages: English, Arabic and French. She received her undergraduate and master’s degree in Enzymology from the American University of Beirut, and her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences. She has extensive experience in bacterial research, including gene expression, antibiotic resistance, recombinant DNA methods, flow cytometry, analysis of immune responses, and genomic bioinformatics.

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Bryan Cole

Bryan Cole is Research and Administrative Assistant at BacVax. Bryan assists in designing experiments, performs both in vitro and in vivo experiments, collects data, performs statistical analyses, and administers the day-to-day operations of the laboratory. Mr. Cole arrived at BacVax after 6 years as part of the academic laboratory team that developed the Bacterial Vaccine Polypeptide technology. He has also previously worked as a research assistant at the University of Oklahoma and interned at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.

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