Steven Mento Joins Hawaii Biotech's Board of Directors

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Hawaii Biotech, Inc.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Robert F. Kay 808-732-0631 Email: rkay@lava.net

Steven Mento PhD Joins Hawaii Biotech's Board of Directors Dr. Mento Elected at the Annual Stockholders' Meeting Aiea, Hawaii, December 21, 2006 : Aiea-based Hawaii Biotech Inc is pleased to announce the election of Steven J. Mento, Ph.D., to its Board of Directors. The election took place in Honolulu on December 14, 2006 at the Company's Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Dr. Mento has 25 years of combined experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, serving in key management roles an d on corporate boards. From 1997 to 2005, Dr. Mento was President, Chief Executive Officer a nd Director of Idun Phar maceuticals, Inc. Dr. Mento guided Idun during its transition from a drug discovery company to a drug development company with multiple products in or near human clinical testing. In April 2005, Idun was sold to Pfizer. Prior to joining Idun, he served as President of Chir on Viagene, Inc., and was a key member of the management team responsible fo r the sale of Viagene to Chiron. Dr. Mento joined Viagene, a gene therapy company, in 199 2 where he was Vice Pres ident of Research and Development. Previously, he led the viral vaccin e development team at Lederle. Dr. Mento is a graduate of Rutgers University, where he received a PhD degree in microbiology. He currently serves on the Boards of the Emerging Companies Section and Health Section Governing Bodies of the Biotechnology Industry Or ganization (BIO); Sangamo Bi oSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGMO); and, privately-held Grannus BioSciences Ltd. Speaking on behalf of the other Directors, Dr . Leonard Firestone, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer observed, "The Board is very pleased that Steve Mento has joined us. His vast experience in research, development and commercialization of vaccines, will no doubt be of great value to our Company and shareholders".

Hawaii Biotech, Inc., the State of Hawaii's lead ing private biotechnology company, has gained worldwide recognition as a leader in the development of vaccines to protect from emerging infectious disease, including avian (pandemic) Influenza, West Nile encephalitis, and Dengue Fever. Hawaii Biotech's proprietary manufactur ing platform, which exploits recombinant DNA technology to produce commercially scaleable, ul tra-high quality vaccine components, is uniquely suited to produce commercially-viable vaccines in the quantities and timeframe needed to address emerging infectious diseases.

Dr. Mento stated, "I look forwar d to working with the team at Hawaii Biotech as they move forward with the clinical development of their novel vaccine candidates."

About Hawaii Biotech's Vaccine Business Hawaii Biotech's vaccine development platform is based on production of proprietary antigens (proteins) that, when appropriately adjuvanted, provoke immune responses equivalent to, or better than, traditional live or in activated viral vaccines - with a significantly improved safety profile. During the past 3 years, Hawaii Biot ech received funding commitments of over US$30 million from the U.S. National Institutes of Hea lth and other governmental agencies, to develop vaccines to prevent human infection by the West Nile virus, Dengue Fever virus, pandemic and annual Influenza viruses, and othe r serious incurable diseases including hepatitis C, malaria, Tick-borne and Japanese encepha litis, Ebola, and Eastern equi ne encephalitis. The Company currently expects that it will be able to commence human clinical trials in Hawaii for a West Nile virus vaccine in 2007. For more information on Hawaii Biotech visit http://www.hibiotech.com.