Animal health innovators: Building on a new frontier means do-overs, even when you got it right first

Kansas City-based ELIAS Animal Health earned full USDA approval for its bone cancer therapy for dogs earlier this year, but the road to commercialization has been long and anything but straight, Tammie Wahaus shared.

The veteran CEO shared her story of pivots — including switching from human health to animal health and adapting to ever-changing regulations — with the attendees of Tuesday’s Animal Health Summit at The Midland Theatre. 

“My advice is this: keep your eyes and your actions focused on delivering value to the patients, to the pet owners, to the veterinarians,” she told the crowd. “And if you are pushing new regulatory frontiers, anticipate that there will be changes in the rules — and be very quick to address them — which will ultimately bring the value to your investors that you had promised and hoped for.”

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The two-day event was presented by the KC Animal Health Corridor, focusing on innovation in animal health with networking, business partnering, industry thought leaders, panels, and emerging company presentations. Wahaus spoke on a panel alongside founders and leaders of previously “emerging” — now successful — companies, including Dr. Eve Hanks with MI:RNA, Dr. Annette Kleiser, with Dalan Animal Health, David Smith with Ceres Tag, and Dr. Todd Zion with Akston. Dr. Thomas D. Overbay, partner with Expedite Animal Health, moderated the panel.

A panel of past emerging companies meets on stage at The Midland Theatre during the KC Animal Health Corridor’s Animal Health Summit; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Founded in 2014, ELIAS has been at the forefront of innovation within the region’s animal health corridor. The company was named one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2020.

“For the past 10 years … the corridor team themselves have provided many opportunities for us to shout that veterinary oncology is an important unmet medical need and introduce this to collaborators who have helped us achieve this success,” Wahaus noted about the event.

David Smith, Ceres Tag, speaks on stage during the KC Animal Health Corridor’s Animal Health Summit; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Fellow panelist Smith said the summit helped get his company Ceres Tag — a leader in direct-to-satellite animal monitoring technology based in Australia — off the ground. 

“It was about introducing ourselves to a global network, which ultimately led to the funding of our company, as well,” he shared.

Ceres Tag embedded itself further into the Kansas City area when it announced in early 2025 that it established its North American headquarters at the Aspira Campus in Overland Park.

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“Ultimately, in November last year, we secured a family office here in Kansas City,” he explained. “They have been absolutely brilliant to deal with. With the vision, they guide us and they’re a member of our board.”

“And when you find those really good investors,” he added, “you hold on to those and make sure that they’re truly kept informed and coming on your journey with you. Because getting the right one attracts more right ones, if that makes sense.”

Tammie Wahaus, ELIAS Animal Health, chats with fellow panelist Dr. Todd Zion, Akston, and moderator Dr. Thomas D. Overbay at the Animal Health Summit in Kansas City; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

While Wahaus and Smith and the other past emerging companies gave updates on what their companies are doing now, the latest emerging companies were also introduced at the summit, including Kansas City-based Scout — one of Startland News’ 2025 Startups to Watch — which is working to replace the paper forms used to plan and monitor dental and anesthetic procedures with an AAHA-compliant, cloud-based application. 

Other companies include: 701x (Fargo, North Dakota), Barnwell Bio (New York), BAZ Therapeutics (Philadelphia), Bluedot Bio (Great Neck, New York), CoVet (San Francisco), Effani Agriculture (Tucson, Arizona), Hale Animal Health (New Zealand), Luna Bioscience (Westport, Connecticut), Pawsitive (Austin, Texas), Pictor Holdings (Carlsbad, California), Pronova (Boston), Snoretox (Australia), and Sorensis Pty (Australia).

“Over the past 20 years,more than 500 applicants have participated in the process,” panel moderator Overbay said about the emerging companies. “We don’t often use the B-word in animal health, but these companies have raised over half a billion dollars as a result of being present and participating in this event, and that doesn’t count for the licensing deals, the distribution deals and the acquisitions that have added to that number.”

“So to say it’s been successful for both the industry and the companies who present, it just certainly goes without saying,” he added.