OncoTAb, Inc., a North Carolina based startup, was co-founded by Mayo Clinic alumna Dr. Pinku Mukherjee, with a mission to improve the quality of cancer care by addressing unmet cancer diagnostic and therapeutic needs.

The company’s first product, Agkura™ Personal Score, is a simple, non-invasive blood test offered as a supplement to mammography for women with dense breast tissue. Mammograms fail to detect cancer in 50% of women with high breast tissue density*, resulting in late stage diagnosis and mortality. The Agkura™ Personal Score shows a continuous trend of increasing values from benign disease through Breast Cancer Stages 1 to 4, with statistically significant increases prior to late stage breast cancer. Women with dense breast tissue can bi-annually monitor their personalized score in conjunction with annual mammograms. An increasing trend would indicate the need for additional imaging modalities and result in earlier stage diagnosis of breast cancer.

The company’s pipeline products include imaging and therapeutic applications of its novel platform technology. Proof of concept studies have demonstrated a strong potential for these products and the company is seeking partnership/licensing opportunities to further develop and commercialize therapies targeting unmet needs.

The OncoTAb team has over 200 years relevant experience to commercialize the Agkura™ Personal Score while concurrently developing a strong suite of pipeline products.

Our Mission

To improve the quality of cancer care and fulfill the need for accurate, personal diagnosis.

Our Core Values

Management Team and Board Members

Rahul Puri, Ph.D., co-founder, Board Member and CEO has over 24 years of professional and executive leadership experience across multiple diverse commercial sectors. As a Six Sigma Master Black belt, he is adept at applying process and product development principles. He is a creative and enthusiastic problem solver credited with multiple inventions. Dr. Puri holds a M.S. from the University of Oklahoma and a Ph.D. from Penn State University both in Mechanical Engineering.

Pinku Mukherjee, Ph.D., co-founder, Board Member and CSO has been a cancer researcher for the past 28 years. In addition to her role at OncoTAb, Dr. Mukherjee is the Irwin Belk Endowed Professor for Cancer Research at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Prior to moving to North Carolina, she was an Associate Professor at the Mayo Clinic. She serves on the Scientific Review panels of the National Institute of Health, the Department of Defense, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and the American Association of Cancer Research. She has over 100 peer reviewed Journal publications and proceedings. She was part of the panel of scientists invited to Capitol Hill in 2010, and part of the NIH/NCI Think Tank for Tumor Progression and Metastasis in 2008. She is the sole inventor of the OncoTAb antibody and received an M.S. and Ph.D. in Immunology from Brunel University, London, UK.

Taffy Williams, Ph.D. is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of OncoTAb. He has extensive pharmaceutical experience and his previous roles include: President and Chief Executive Officer of Photogen Technologies Inc., President and Founder of InKine Pharmaceutical Company; and, CEO, Chairman and President of Panax.

CLIA Laboratory Director

Omar Idlibi, MD is OncoTAb’s CLIA Laboratory Director. In addition to his role at OncoTAb, Dr. Idlibi is a practicing Anatomic Pathologist in Charlotte, NC. Dr. Idlibi graduated from University of Aleppo Faculty of Medicine in 1979 and has been in practice for 39 years

Scientific Advisors

Herbert Kim Lyerly, MD is on the Scientific Advisory Board of OncoTAb. He is the George Barth Geller Professor of Cancer Research and Professor of Surgery at Duke University. He is an internationally recognized expert in cancer therapy and cancer immunotherapy. In 2008, Dr. Lyerly was appointed to the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) by President George Bush and was named chair on the Cancer Centers sub-committee of the NCAB.

Sandra Gendler, Ph.D. is on the Scientific Advisory Board of OncoTAb. She is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Mayo Clinic and was recognized for distinction in her field by the appointment of the David F. and Margaret T. Grohne Research Professorship in Therapeutics in Cancer Research. She originally cloned the gene for the MUC1 tumor antigen and she is now translating MUC1-specific therapy into the clinic.

Consultants

Susan Alpert, MD, Regulatory Consultant, was most recently the Senior Vice President, Chief Regulatory Officer of Medtronic and was responsible for all Medtronic global regulatory efforts. Prior to joining Medtronic, Dr. Alpert served as Vice President of Regulatory Sciences for C.R. Bard, Inc. She also previously worked at FDA where she held a variety of positions in the Centers dealing with drugs, devices and radiological health, and foods, including six years as the Director of the Office of Device Evaluation.

Evan Siegel, Ph.D., Consultant, is CEO and President of Ground Zero Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (GZP), a regulatory affairs and product development consulting firm. GZP provides services in the technology assessment and management of client’s product development programs for pharmaceuticals, biologics, medical devices and combination products.

Dennis King, Ph.D., Consultant, is President and CEO of STATKING Clinical Services and STATKING Animal Health CRO, a contract research organization (CRO) located in Cincinnati, OH.