Press Releases
Carson company training biopharmaceutical leaders
(Carson City, Nev., Oct 3, 2009)
Brad Horn/Special to the Nevada Appeal
Matilda Dzomeku, a research scientist working for the government of Ghana, was the first student to receive training at Aloha Medicinals as part of a program to offer researches hands-on experience in growing medicinal mushrooms.
Aloha Medicinals in Carson City has begun a program to provide post-doctoral instruction in biopharmaceutical manufacturing that is attracting students from several different countries.
Company founder and chief scientist Dr. John Holliday said the program was born out of a lack of hands-on educational opportunities for researchers in the growing field of biopharmaceuticals.
"The value we are offering to these post-doctoral students is they are able to come here and put the theoretical knowledge they learned in the universities into day-to-day practice,"Holliday said. "Getting a PhD doesn't teach you how to make things. It just gives you the idea of how a thing can be made."
Aloha Medicinals manufactures a variety of compounds from mushrooms that are used in medicines and dietary supplements.
"We invented so much of this field,"Holliday said. "When we started 10 years ago, it was a concept that no one had really put into practice. And we have been leading the way since, and now there is an emerging worldwide industry based on this concept of non-toxic, naturally derived functional medicines."
While working with the government of Ghana to create mushroom-growing facilities on the African continent, Holliday made an offer to help train their researchers by bringing them to Carson City to show them how to produce end-user products from mushrooms.
While presenting a paper at the Fifth International Conference on Medicinal Mushrooms in China on Sept. 5-8 in Nantong, China, Holliday opened up the offer for training to the top researchers in medicinal mushrooms, and has since received 20 applications from countries like Slovenia, Ukraine, Uganda, Togo and China.
"Both parties benefit, because we are bringing some of the greatest brainpower in the world in this field,"Holliday said. Matilda Dzomeku was the first researcher to be trained at Aloha, and has already returned to her native Ghana to put her new knowledge to use. "Mushroom technology has not been fully explored,"Dzomeku said. "There is much more that we can do, especially in Africa."
Holliday said his vision is to create a hub of biopharmaceutical companies in Northern Nevada, and is in discussions with the University of Nevada, Reno on creating a program at the school to train people in this field.
The company already has had several UNR students doing work at their facility for class credit.
Aloha Medicinals has 33 employees at their 33,000 square foot facility in Carson City. The company was recently named the Small Business Exporter of the Year for Nevada by the Small Business Administration, and also received the 2007 Governor's Industry Appreciation Award, and the 2008 Nevada Excellence in International Business Award.
Blessed Herbal Clinic launches immune booster
Accra, Sept. 02, GNA - The Blessed Herbal Clinic Limited has introduced an immune booster, "Immune Assist 247" for persons living with HIV/AIDS, infertility, stroke, diabetes, low sperm count and general pains.
Mr Robert Bamson, General Manager of the clinic, in an interview with Ghana News Agency on Wednesday, said about 100 patients who were put on the drug during trials at the clinic responded positively. Mr Bamson said while no supplement or medication could take the place of a healthy lifestyle and good diet, modern science had provided knowledge to fight the breaking down of the natural immune defences in humans.
He said the daily supplement in "Immune Assist 247" was a compound called Polysaccharide Immune Enhancer, which acted as the immune, triggered the body to be strong and vital. Mr Bamson said the clinic had branches at La and Dansoman in Accra as well as Sunyani and Kumasi to bring its services to the doorsteps of the people to cater for their health needs.
He said apart from the diseases mentioned, the clinic also offered spiritual and religious support to patients. The General Manager expressed the hope that people with the diseases would take advantage of services offered at the clinic to find solution to their health needs. 02 Sept. 09
John Holliday named Small Business Exporter of the Year.
Monday, June 29, 2009
A highly coveted medicinal fungus that only grows naturally on the heads of caterpillars living above 14,000 feet in the Himalaya mountains can also be found in Carson City, Nev. John C. Holliday is to thank for that.
While many may not understand the significance behind Holliday's ability to grow this unique fungus from tissue cultures, it's noteworthy to mention that many people around the world are enjoying health benefits from his Northern Nevada organically grown products.
Holliday began his professional career as a mechanical engineer, spending some time building equipment for nuclear submarines in Hawaii. Cultivating mushrooms as a hobby since 1976, Holliday started Mushroom Maui in 1997. He sold the company to Aloha Medicinals in 2000 and became the president and head of research for the medicinal mushroom company with the move. Two years later, Holliday moved Aloha Medicinals to Santa Cruz, Calif., and then to Carson City 18 months ago.
"The business atmosphere is much more friendly here than in California," he said. "The NNDA (Northern Nevada Development Authority) has been just a wonderful support...I can honestly say the best thing I ever did was move my business to Nevada."
Holliday leaned on his mechanical engineering background to build the equipment necessary to replicate the growth environment of the high Himalayas so that his company could produce Cordyceps, the earlier-mentioned fungus known around the world for its immune system-enhancing and infection-fighting properties in humans and animals. Holliday sells raw Cordyceps and mushroom medicinals to more than 700 drug and supplement companies around the world, in addition to selling some under the Aloha Medicinals name.
The company grows more than 75 percent of the world's supply of Cordyceps and sells it and other medicinal mushroom products to more than 30 countries. With sales growing to $3.6 million in 2008, Holliday expects them to balloon to $50 million soon, with the completion of an agreement to sell the company's Immune-Assist 247 product in Africa, where it has proven to be effective in helping HIV/AIDS sufferers.
Holliday, who is editor of the International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms, was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in mycology from the Chinese scientific community for his research work on the medicinal effects of mushrooms; and he has lectured in more than 20 countries on the topic.
While other countries consider mushroom formulations and some of Aloha Medicinals' supplements actual drugs, gaining that title in America is difficult. But Holliday doesn't allow the inability to get his products approved as drugs in America to keep him from marketing effective products around the world.
"In the U.S., a drug must be able to be described down to a single molecule. But nature isn't that simple. It isn't a single active molecule but rather an entire suite of compounds (that makes mushrooms medicinally effective)," Holliday said. "Things are looked at as dietary supplements in this country, where in other countries ... those same things may be regarded as a mainstream treatment."
(Carson City, Nev., May 13, 2009) A Nevada company has developed a process that allows livestock producers to replace artificial antibiotic feed supplements with an organic compound made from mushrooms that produces healthier meat.
This would eliminate the need for antibiotic supplements which most health professionals have criticized for their role in accelerating the growth of drug-resistant bacteria. Beyond the health concerns, the European Union has banned the importation of meat from animals that are fed antibiotics.
Dr. John Holliday, president and founder of Aloha Medicinals, has been researching the antibiotic and anti-viral compounds present in fungi for many years. His company has pioneered a process to mass produce cordyceps, a very rare mushroom that grows only in Tibet. Inside their facility in Carson City, the company now produces more cordyceps than are harvested in the wild in the entire world.
Penicillin, the first antibiotic and the model for all that came later, originates from fungi. Bacteria, viruses and fungi occupy the same link in the food chain. Because bacteria and viruses multiply faster, fungi have evolved to produce compounds that fight off these competitors in order to survive.
It was the isolation of one of these compounds that became Penicillin. And according to Holliday, that was where medicine took a wrong turn.
"When (Dr. Alexander) Fleming discovered Penicillin in 1928, science went down a very narrow path, trying to isolate single molecules that would have the active properties that we were looking for," Holliday said. "If we look at using the whole, naturally occurring antibiotic instead of the single isolated molecule, we have better efficacy, lower costs and far less toxicity or side effects."
Aloha Medicinals has proven that feeding livestock these mushroom compounds does a better job of fighting off diseases without the dangers posed by using artificially produced antibiotics and anti-viral drugs.
Holliday said they have run trials on more than 60,000 head of cattle.
And because these mushrooms are certified organic, meat produced using them would be eligible for export to Europe and other overseas markets.
"We are trying to come up with ways where we can combine the best of two systems, the happy cow in a grassy field, and the 100,000 cows in a feedlot," Holliday said. "What we are doing is producing a healthier meat, certified organic, and it's not sick."
Aloha Medicinals was recently named the Small Business Exporter of the Year for Nevada by the Small Business Administration. The company also received the 2007 Governor's Industry Appreciation Award, and the 2008 Nevada Excellence in International Business Award.
May 11, 2009
Aloha Medicinals Awards Scholarships for Mushroom Cultivation Training
Aloha Medicinals Inc, the world's largest producer of organic Cordyceps sinensis, announces the award of scholarships for advanced spawn making techniques. Aloha Medicinals has awarded full scholarships to 10 qualified applicants to attend a one-month long course on Advanced Spawn Making for the Mushroom Industry to be held at their Carson City, Nevada plant.
This is the only course of its kind in the world, where the applicants are given hands on training in the most advanced aspects of mushroom spawn manufacturing, including spawn making for button mushrooms, as well as many of the exotic strains used for both culinary and medicinal purposes.
Upon successful completion of this intensive month-long training program the graduates are awarded a certificate identifying them as Spawn Masters; the most prestigious level of accomplishment in the mushroom industry.
Aloha Medicinals typically awards between 12 and 20 full scholarships like this each year. If you are interested in mushroom cultivation, and would like to apply for a training scholarship, please send an email outlining your personal and academic details, your experience and a short description of why you think you should be considered for a scholarship, as well as what you think you would add to the mushroom industry if you are selected. Send application email to john@alohamedicinals.com
March 24, 2009
Aloha Medicinals Inc. Named Small Business Exporter of the Year for Nevada
2009 Nevada SBA Small Business Award Winners Include Carson City and Ely Honorees
Las Vegas, NV - The Nevada District office of the U. S. Small Business Administration has selected its small business award honorees for 2009, including two Northern and Rural Nevada residents. They will be recognized at an awards luncheon to be held at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Thursday, May 7, 2009, beginning promptly at 11:30 am.
Rob Dorinson, majority owner and President of Evergreen Recycling, Las Vegas, has been named SBA's Small Business Person of the Year for the State of Nevada.
Mary A. Kerner, Lending Administrator for the Rural Nevada Development Corporation, Ely, has been named SBA's Nevada and Region 9 (Guam, Hawaii, California, Nevada and Arizona) Financial Services Champion of the Year.
John C. Holliday, founder and President, Aloha Medicinals, Inc., Carson City, has been named SBA's Small Business Exporter of the Year for Nevada.
Mr. Dorinson has been invited to attend SBA's National Small Business Week activities in Washington, D. C. on May 17-19 to be recognized with all other state Small Business Persons of the Year. This year marks the 56th anniversary of the SBA, and the 46th annual proclamation of Small Business Week.
Others being honored at the awards luncheon in Las Vegas include:
- Microenterprise Business Person of the Year: Lisa McQuerrey, Owner, Professional Writing Services, Henderson;
- Small Business Journalist of the Year: Connie Brennan, Publisher, Nevada Business, Henderson;
- Minority Small Business Champion of the Year: Janis Stevenson, Business Development Advisor, Nevada Small Business Development Center, Las Vegas;
- Home-Based Business Champion of the Year: Shawn D. Lane, Owner, Cheyenne Marketing, Las Vegas;
- Women in Business Champion of the Year: Carrie Michelle Henderson, President, BEST Agency, Las Vegas.
Page Two - SBA Awards
The nominees are judged by an independent panel of small business leaders on a variety of criteria, including staying power, growth in number of employees, increase in sales, current and past financial reports, innovativeness of product or service, response to adversity, evidence of contributions to community-oriented projects, and small business advocacy.
Rob Dorinson, Small Business Person of the Year for the State of Nevada, is majority owner and President of Evergreen Recycling. The companyspecializes in construction waste management, industrial recycling and commercial recycling services. Dorinson founded his company in 1997, and the company has grown from an initial five employees to seventy-six during 2008. In January 2008, Dorinson secured $2 million in financing through the SBA's 504 loan guarantee program to construct a 50,000 square foot Material Recovery Facility in Las Vegas. Evergreen's operation has been praised by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and remains the largest facility of its kind in Nevada, processing and annually recovering 120,000 tons of materials.
Mary A. Kerner, Nevada Financial Services Champion of the Year, is Lending Administrator for the Rural Nevada Development Corporation. Effectively creating and administering a $7 million loan portfolio with a less than 1 percent default rate would alone be worthy of recognition. However, Kerner has also consistently worked to insure RNDC clients receive the needed business acumen, technical assistance and advocacy required to achieve and maintain success both before and after they have received their funding through RNDC.
John C. Holliday, PhD, Nevada Small Business Exporter of the Year, is founder and President of Aloha Medicinals, Inc. Producing condition-specific dietary supplements for worldwide distribution and reformulation, Aloha Medicinals exports to over a dozen countries, with further international expansion being developed. Founded in Hawaii, the company moved to Carson City during 2007. The company has previously received the 2007 Governor's Industry Appreciation Award, and the 2008 Nevada Excellence in International Business Award.
"This has been a very challenging economy for small companies," said John Scott, SBA Nevada District Director. "All of our award recipients this year display a 'can-do' spirit when it comes to business staying power, and all have the ability to see beyond the challenges to develop solutions," added Scott. "We look forward to recognizing their achievements at the special Small Business Awards luncheon on May 7."
For reservations to join the SBA and business leaders for the Nevada SBA awards luncheon in Las Vegas on May 7, 2008 at the Orleans Hotel, contact Greenspun Media Group at:Â 702-990-2448 or sbaevent@gmgvegas.com. The cost to attend this event is $55 per person or $500 for table(s) of 10.
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For more information about all of the SBA's programs for small businesses, call the SBA Answer Desk at 1-800 U ASK SBA or TDD 704-344-6640, or visit the SBA's extensive Web site at http://www.sba.gov.
Nevada District Office, U.S. Small Business Administration
400 South Fourth St., Suite 250, Las Vegas, NV 89101.
March 19, 2009
Aloha Medicinals Inc. Attending Medicinal Mushroom Conference in Ghana Africa
For Immediate Release
Contact: Liza Alvarez, Aloha Medicinals, Inc., 775-886-6300, 2300 Arrowhead Dr. Carson City, NV 89706
Aloha Medicinals, Inc. Attending Medicinal Mushroom Conference in Ghana Africa.
Aloha Medicinals, Inc. is sending four members of its research team who specialize in Cordyceps sinensis production to Accra, Ghana for the 2nd African Conference on Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms taking place March 24-28.
The conference will be attended by mycologists, microbiologists, doctors, government ministries, and other professionals. The agenda includes discussions of the medicinal properties and pharmacology of active compounds, mushroom supplements, and fungal physiology, biochemistry, and genetics.
Dr. Holliday, President and Director of Research of Aloha Medicinals, will be chairing technical sections and presenting the plenary lecture. Dr. Holliday will also be making a presentation on ‘Mushrooms and Health Management'. Cody Bailey will be lecturing on ‘Low Technology Methods of Mushroom Production', Clint Moreira will present a lecture on ‘Isolation of Anamorphs in Cordyceps sinensis', and Britt Gianotti will discuss the ‘Reanimation of Archaic Forms of Cordyceps'. The Aloha Medicinals research team has been studying and growing cultures found in 8 million year old coal to find strains of archaic Cordyceps that would be unrecognizable to modern bacteria and virus. The objective is to present the modern disease causing organisms with an antagonist in the form of ancient Cordyceps, to which they have no resistance.
December 18, 2008
For Immediate Release:
Carson City Scientist to Present Paper in Dubai
Contact: Fredrick Zinos, Aloha Medicinals 2300 Arrowhead Highway, Carson City NV. 89706 775-886 6300
Dr. John Holliday, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Aloha Medicinals, a Carson City Nevada Biopharmaceutical company, has been invited to present a paper at the International Conference on Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, January 28-30, 2009.
The paper will detail recent successful large scale field trials and testing of ingredients of Aloha Medicinals cutting edge formulation, Fin-Immune™. This is a USDA certified organic food additive that acts as a growth stimulator and antibiotic replacement for farm raised fish. Fin-Immune™ improves the general health of the fish, reduces mortality and shortens growing time needed to bring the farm raised fish to market.
The conference, held in conjunction with the World Academy of Engineering and Technology, will be attended by more than 6000 leading veterinarians, researchers, scientists and engineers from all over the world.
Aloha Medicinals Inc, is the world's largest developer and supplier of mycology based non-prescription nutrients that improve immune response in both humans and animals.
Carson City Nevada November 19, 2008.
Aloha Medicinals Inc, a Carson City Nevada biopharmaceutical company specializing in natural immune modulators, announced the launch of its first international consumer marketing program. John Holliday, Ph.D. stated "There are no products anywhere in the world that support optimized immune function the way Immune Assist 247™ does. That's why it is used by health care professionals in immune hotspots like Africa, and that's why we are advertising it in leading consumer publications world-wide."
Immune Assist 247™ was developed by Dr. Holliday after years of research into ways to trigger natural immune response to invading bacteria and viruses. The ingredients developed by Dr. Holliday are so unique they have been awarded United States patent protection.
The Immune Assist 247™ advertising campaign will be directed to consumers initially through print advertising, and a full TV campaign is planned starting the second half of 2009.
Executive Vice President Roger Scott said "If a company has a product that can keep people well, does not require a prescription because there are no side effects, and is affordable, that company has an obligation to advertise and let people know about it. The best part of Immune Assist 247™ is that the product is 100% Certified Organic and made right here in the United States. As far as we are aware, this is the very first, time release, 100% Certified Organic tablet made anywhere."
For more information regarding Aloha Medicinals, Inc. and Immune Assist 247™ please contact Roger Scott or Fredrick Zinos at 775 886 6300.