Elliot Parks, president and CEO of Hawaii Biotech, Inc., or HBI, is retiring from the role due to medical reasons, officials with the biotechnology company announced Monday.
The company's vice president and general counsel, Richard Sherman, will serve as interim CEO as the HBI Board looks for Parks' replacement. Despite no longer helming the company, Parks will continue to serve on HBI's board of directors and as a consultant for the company.
HBI — a company with that develops vaccines and biodefense drugs — is Hawaii's oldest and largest biotech company, has 21 employees and is currently developing vaccine candidates for Covid-19, Ebola, Zika, and West Nile Virus, among others.
Parks has led the company since 2008 and is credited with financing and initiating the first human clinical trials for HBI's Dengue and West Nile virus vaccines. In 2016 and 217, Parks also led the design and development of HBI’s new state-of-the-art headquarters at Dole Cannery which includes both medicinal chemistry and molecular biology laboratories.
Parks brought 30 years of experience in academic research, biomedical product development, executive management and life science investing to his role at HBI, in addition to experience and personal knowledge of best practices in corporate governance.
“We will sorely miss Elliot’s hands-on leadership and are grateful that he continues to serve on the board and as a consultant," said Debra Guerin Beresini, board member of the HBI Board of Directors, in a statement. "Finding a chief executive officer with all the experience and skills Hawaii Biotech demanded at the time was extraordinarily fortunate. His dedication to the company, the community and staff cannot be overstated."
