Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Thursday, January 4, 2001

Aquasearch, UH sign research deal

Aquasearch Inc. said it has signed an agreement to develop new pharmaceuticals from a collection of more than 2,000 strains of microalgae held by the University of Hawaii. The producer of medicinal products and food additives from microalgae it grows in Kona ponds will maintain the U.H. collection developed by a chemistry professor, Richard Moore, in return for rights to royalties from any new drugs developed from the collection.

So far, Moore's microalgae are being tested only for possible use in fighting cancer but Aquasearch said they may be candidates for many other uses. The financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.

Dole Food to sell organic bananas

Dole Food Co. said today its Dole Fresh Fruit Co. subsidiary will begin selling organic bananas this month. The bananas are grown on Ecuador and Honduras farms that are U.S. certified as free of any commercial chemicals or fertilizers.

The fruit will sell first on the West Coast and become available later in the rest of the country, Dole said. Westlake Village, Calif.-based Dole is the world's largest producer and marketer of fresh fruits and vegetables. It still has agricultural operations in Hawaii where it was founded in the 1800s.

30-year rates fall to 7.07 percent

WASHINGTON -- The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dipped to 7.07 percent this week, down from 7.13 percent last week, according to a survey released today by Freddie Mac, the mortgage company.

Fifteen-year mortgages declined to 6.74 percent last week, down from 6.79 percent the previous week. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 6.86 percent, down from 6.93 percent the week before.

In other news . . .

DETROIT -- DaimlerChrysler AG said today it will end production of its venerable Jeep Cherokee sport utility vehicle later this year as it ramps up production of the new Jeep Liberty small SUV.