Halia Therapeutics Celebrates Grand Opening of Its Lehi, Utah Headquarters
August 24, 2023
It was standing room only Tuesday as Halia Therapeutics held a ribbon cutting for the opening of its new headquarters in Lehi, Utah – a 20,000 square foot state-of-art drug research and development facility. CEO and co-founder, David Bearss, Ph.D. welcomed guests and shared the Halia mission: to develop novel therapies to improve the lives of patients with inflammatory disorders and neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. I’m just trying to change the world Bearss likes to say.
A line-up of distinguished speakers helped celebrate the occasion, including U.S. Sen. Mike Lee; U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens; Utah State Attorney General, Sean Reyes; State Rep. Kay Christofferson; Kori Ann Edwards, Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, Director of Strategic Initiatives; and Lehi City Mayor, Mark Johnson.
Keoni Kauwe, Ph.D., also a co-founder, told attendees the story of Halia’s humble beginnings with Bearss and his brother, Jared Bearss. Kauwe, an expert in Alzheimer’s research and president of BYU Hawaii, explained that Haila has a special meaning. In Hawaiian, it means fond memories.
The Lehi location is especially poignant because this is where Bearss located his previous drug company, Tolero Pharmaceuticals. Tolero was acquired in 2017 by Sumitomo Dainippon, an international pharmaceutical company.
“We congratulate Dave and the Halia team on this important milestone,” said Kelvyn Cullimore, president and CEO of BioUtah. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Dave over the years. He’s a real change agent in our industry, not only as a visionary entrepreneur developing new life-changing drugs, but as a passionate leader mentoring the next generation of innovators and supporting the growth of Utah’s life sciences industry.”
Bringing Halia to the forefront in the field of inflammation drug discovery, the company plans to start two Phase II trials later this year, with a further Phase I trial planned for early 2024. More jobs are also on the horizon as Halia settles into its new home.
View Fox 13 News Coverage HERE.