Hawaii Biotech spins off drug business to STI

As part of its evolution into a pure-play vaccine development company, Hawaii Biotech Inc. has spun off its drug development business to Science & Technology International Inc., a Honolulu research and development firm.

Hawaii Biotech will maintain a 20 percent ownership stake in the new company, PanThera Biopharma Inc., said Dr. Len Firestone, Hawaii Biotech's chief executive. PanThera will focus on developing drugs to treat anthrax and botulism, said Will Alameida, PanThera's chief executive.

Exploiting STI's strength and experience in using federal money to develop technologies with applications for both the military and private sector, PanThera plans to apply for grant financing from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense and the federal BioShield Program, which is spending $5.6 billion to develop and stockpile drugs to protect against acts of terrorism, Alameida said.

PanThera also is seeking to qualify for Hawaii's Act 215 program, which enables investors in technology companies to receive state income tax credits designed to encourage investment in startups, a spokeswoman said.

Firestone said the spinoff enables Hawaii Biotech to further refine its focus as a vaccine developer, while enabling Science & Technology International to use its expertise as a defense contractor to grow PanThera.

Hawaii Biotech's work focuses on using a fragment of a virus to provoke an immune response in the person who takes the vaccine.

The spinoff comes approximately six months after Hawaii Biotech merged its vaccine business with that of Avantogen Ltd., an Australian biotech firm headquartered in La Jolla, Calif. At that time, Hawaii Biotech spun off its anti-inflammatory drug-development business and named it Cardax Pharmaceuticals Inc.