Drug developer plans to move to Maui, conduct clinical trials

A Minnesota-based pharmaceutical drug-development company plans to relocate to Hawaii next year.

Mediscovery Inc. and its sister company, Medisyn Inc., will move operations to Maui with the opening of a clinical trials facility in Kahului, according to CEO Richard Rotondo.

Mediscovery specializes in the use of nanotechnology to speed up drug research and development primarily for cancer. It developed an anti-cancer drug called Cancure that targets cancer cells with no toxicity and reduces the side effects associated with other cancer drugs.

Medisyn assists in manufacturing and preparing Mediscovery's drugs for clinical trials.

As Cancure moves forward in FDA-approved animal trials, Rotondo said the company wants to conduct the next phase of clinical human trials in Hawaii, which he described as being innovative and a real leader in cancer research and treatment.

He cited the University of Hawaii's Cancer Research Center of Hawaii -- which is building a new, state-of-the-art, comprehensive cancer facility in Kakaako -- as the driver behind the company's decision to establish a presence here.

"The innovation that we're seeing in Hawaii is visionary," Rotondo said. "That's where our focus will be because it's the best location in the world and we're moving for the business climate, not the climate."

Rotondo plans to open an approximately 5,000-square-foot clinic within the planned Maui Medical Plaza at Kanaha, a new $43 million medical office building from developers Benjamin Brown and Bob McDaniel. Building plans still are being approved and construction could begin later this year.

Mediscovery's clinic will be staffed by a team that will include at least one lead oncologist and nurses. Rotondo said he intends to hire people in Hawaii but is unsure how many. He also is in early discussions with the University of Hawaii on partnership opportunities.

lchiem@bizjournals.com | 955-8042