Business Development and Support Division

Once again the State of Hawaii will participate in the BIO International Convention. This event brings thousands of life science leaders from 60+ countries together for one week of intensive, networking activities where new opportunities are identified and promising partnerships begin. This year BIO will take place from June 23-26, 2014 in San Diego.

DBEDT is organizing a Hawaii Pavilion at BIO to promote and highlight Hawaii life science companies. The following are the Hawaii life science companies exhibiting in the pavilion:

Cardax – developing anti-inflammatory nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals initially based on astaxanthin, a naturally occurring compound that reduces inflammation without the harmful side effects of current anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g., steroids, NSAIDs, anti-TNFs).

Eyegenix – developing the world’s first biosynthetic cornea replacement involving a biosynthetic implant–with human compatibility and long term implantation experience, no immunological markers, capable of nerve regrowth, epithelialization, and tissue integration.

Hawaii Biotech – developing biomedical products, including vaccines to prevent and drugs to treat infectious diseases for which there are currently no medical alternatives such as those targeted against emerging, tropical, and bio-terrorism infectious agents. 

HNu-nanoPOINT – winner of the Buzz of BIO award for Technologies of Tomorrow is a biotechnology company that provides custom automated microfluidics and imaging platforms with high-throughput, remote-controlled and automated features allowing long time-course experiments with multiple drug delivery options benefiting drug discovery, cancer biology, stem cell research, Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) research, and individualized cancer and stem cell therapies.

Pono Pharma – developing two pipeline products: a proteasome inhibitor with a focus on multiple myeloma, and a novel anti-infective agent for treating drug-resistant Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, both creating better treatment options for patients with cancer and for drug-resistant bacterial infections. 

Tissue Genesis – a clinical-stage company in the high-growth field of regenerative medicine focused on clinical trial validation of adult stem cell therapeutics and the development of advanced platform technology to meet the broad needs of the healthcare market.

Joining DBEDT and the companies above in the Hawaii Pavilion are the High Technology Development Corporation (HTDC), the Maui Economic Development Board, and the University of Hawaii represented by the UH Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation and the UH Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development (OTTED).