Meet the team

Douglas J. Kawahara, PhD
Principal
DJK BioConsult

Dr. Doug Kawahara has over 20 years of biotechnology industry experience in business development, M&A, in-/out-licensing, technology assessment, strategic marketing/market analysis, IP management, and R&D management. His work has spanned the spectrum of the life sciences industry:  multiple therapeutic areas (oncology, inflammatory & autoimmune diseases, infectious disease, CNS, CV); discovery to late-stage development; a range of therapeutic classes (small molecule, peptides, biologics), therapeutic and preventive vaccines; platform technologies; diagnostics; and research products.

Dr. Kawahara is a business and corporate development consultant with a focus on startup and early-stage biotechnology companies; he has worked with >25 businesses. Among his recent clients are an early-stage peptide therapeutic company developing treatments for inflammatory diseases, a startup with a novel protein expression system, a semi-virtual company developing a re-purposed drug for the treatment of viral infections, and a university spinout developing novel compounds to treat heart arrhythmias. Previously, he was Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, at Oligos Etc., an FDA-certified manufacturer of custom GMP oligonucleotides for the molecular diagnostics industry. Prior to that, he was Vice President, Business Development, at Receptor BioLogix, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel biotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, Senior Director, Business Development, at Anesiva, Inc. (fka Corgentech), a developer of drugs for treating pain and inflammation, and Director, Corporate Development, at GeneTrol Biotherapeutics, a developer of therapeutic proteins for the treatment of cancer, viral infections and autoimmune diseases. He was a member of the founding management team and Corporate Director, Planning and Business Development, for Xenogen Corporation, and held positions of increasing responsibility at Becton Dickinson and Company including Director, Reagents and Applications Development for the Cellular Imaging Systems Division, and Manager, Licensing and New Business Development for the Advanced Cellular Biology Division. Dr. Kawahara was Director of Research, Children’s Hospital Orange County, and a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of California, San Diego, an MBA in finance from California State University, Long Beach, and a Ph.D. in microbiology (immunology) from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He is also a Certified Licensing Professional.