Hawaii Biotech Secures $7.8 Million in Series C Financing

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Hawaii Biotech Secures $7.8 Million in Series C Financing

Frank Herringer, Former Transamerica CEO, Amgen Director; and Dick Foster, ex-McKinsey Healthcare Practice Leader Join Board of Directors

HONOLULU, Hawaii -- Hawaii Biotech, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company engaged in the research and development of human pharmaceuticals, announced today that it has raised $7.8 million in a Series C financing round. The round was led by Hawaii Biotech Board Chairman Nick Mitsakos with participation by both Hawaii based and Mainland private investors. As part of the financing, two nationally known figures in the life science arena will join Hawaii Biotech's Board of Directors. The new Board members are:

-- Frank Herringer, Chairman and former CEO of Transamerica Corporation and a Board member of Amgen and Charles Schwab.

-- Dick Foster, former founder and leader of the healthcare practice at McKinsey & Company, one of the nation's leading management consulting firms.

Proceeds of the financing will be used primarily to fund Hawaii Biotech's anti-inflammatory small molecule programs, including the pre-clinical and early clinical development of Cardax(TM), the Company's treatment for cardiovascular inflammatory disease, as well as general corporate purposes. Hawaii Biotech expects that its vaccine programs will be funded by a combination of strategic initiatives and grant funding.

In addition to Mitsakos and new board members, Herringer and Foster, the Company's Board of Directors includes Fred Pashkow, MD, Medical Director Cardiovascular Medical Affairs for Sanofi-Aventis; and Hawaii Biotech President and CEO, David G. Watumull. Previous Board members William K. Richardson, Debra Guerin, and Edwin C. Cadman, MD, have stepped down.

"We thank our investors for their support and are also grateful to our departing Board members for their valued service," said David G. Watumull, President and CEO of Hawaii Biotech, Inc. "Looking ahead, we are indeed fortunate to have people of Frank and Dick's caliber and experience in the life science area to help guide us as we move Hawaii Biotech into human clinical trials and onto a national stage."

"Hawaii Biotech's programs are quite promising and I intend to play an active role as a Board Member," stated new Hawaii director Frank C. Herringer, Chairman and former CEO of Transamerica, a financial services company, and Amgen director. Herringer and Hawaii Biotech Board Chairman Nick Mitsakos have worked together for more than five years as board members of Mirapoint, Inc., a company founded by Mitsakos.

"Hawaii Biotech's work is important and as a Board member my role will be to help make this company a success," said Dick Foster, a former leader of the healthcare practice at McKinsey & Co. At McKinsey, Foster led the firm's relationship with the world's largest integrated healthcare company as well as founding the healthcare, technology, and private equity practices.

Other News Items Published on the Monday, January 09, 2006

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Last Updated: 24 November 2007.