Lou Vaickus, MD FACP
Lou Vaickus, MD FACP
Chief Executive Officer and Founder
akta Pharmaceutical Development (aktaPD®)
More than just a founder and CEO of a successful pharmaceutical and device development company, Dr. Lou is a maverick. He looks at people and situations beyond the surface appearances, bringing a unique perspective of seeing all creatures–from single cells (as a researcher), to human beings (as a medical doctor), to disease states and pandemics (as an immunologist)–at their purest “cellular” level. aktaPD collectively has commercialized over 100 drugs and OTC resources currently on the market today, reinforcing its commitment to healing from the inside-out.
Dr. Lou grew up on Chicago’s South Side, attending grammar school, high school, and college with a student body that was diverse and ethnically rich. He attained his MD at Loyola University, and did training in Emergency and Internal Medicine at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital and the University of Chicago. He has been a medical student, resident, and staff member at several Veteran’s Administration Hospitals in three states. As a physician and first responder, Dr. Lou has seen the trauma of drive-by shootings, gang-related injuries, rapes, and drug addiction, as well as the unique problems facing inner-city, low-income housing, and homeless residents.
He now has more than 30 years of extensive experience working with start-up, small, medium, and large pharmaceutical product and device companies.
The expertise he brings to aktaPD® clients spans all aspects of drug development and clinical medicine: new chemical entities (NCEs), medical devices, assay development, biosimilars, foods, cell therapies, beneficial bacteria, diagnostics, and biologicals in a broad variety of indications including oncology, autoimmunity and immunology, respiratory, neurology, hematology, and infectious disease. He has served aktaPD clients in the areas of preclinical and clinical drug development plans and implementation, executive leadership (chief medical officer), executive training, regulatory affairs/quality assurance, business development and financing, medical writing, and commercialization solutions. He is committed to solving problems with fresh perspectives, relevant past experience, and an intention to heal wounds permanently. The name of his company is a derivative of the Latin phrase “acta non verba” which translates to “actions, not words,” a philosophy he carries out in his life each day.