Hawai'i has tremendous opportunities to grow its biotechnology industry and partner with others in the Pacific region, the leader of a San Diego biotech association said yesterday.

"You have diversity — you have marine biotechnology, agricultural biotechnology, things that provide an opportunity for Hawai'i to stand on its own versus the rest of the country in biotech," BIOCOM president Joe Panetta told about 40 people at a Hawaii Life Sciences Council meeting in downtown Honolulu.

Panetta said Hawai'i and others in the Pacific region should work together and compete with the biotech partnership that exists between Europe and the East Coast.

"I think that we have to think about how to create more of a Pan Pacific partnership that takes advantage of these resources in Japan, Hawai'i, California, Australia, and I think together we can create quite a powerhouse for" research and development, Panetta said.

BIOCOM, which describes itself as the largest regional life sciences association in the world, got its beginnings in San Diego about 15 years ago, when defense and tourism dominated the local economy, he said. He said the organization has grown from about six CEOs to roughly 500 members and a staff of 20 people.

"My message is really, get started small and bring value to the folks involved in the organization, create programs and committees that can effectively bring people together to collaborate," Panetta said.

"You have to want to do it. It doesn't matter whether you have 10 companies or 500 companies. We grew this from nothing.

"You've got these resources in agriculture here and the environment that Hawai'i has an opportunity to take control of by creating real power in biotechnology and research ... understanding the genetics of the organisms that exist here, unique to here, researching what the potential is to use the uniqueness in different ways and taking control of the resources here," Panetta said after his presentation.

"That can only come through continuing interest in training people and doing research and building the research foundation here. Otherwise people are going to come from elsewhere and try to do it. Just like in San Diego, we aim to try to take control of our research resources. I think that's something that's important for (Hawai'i) to do."