[2] From 1986 to 1990, during the early days of the biotechnology industry, he worked for Genentech and was involved in the product launches for Protropin (human growth hormone) and tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), a drug for dissolving clots in people with strokes or heart attacks.

[2][3] Hollis worked briefly for Instromedix, a medical device company that sold a wearable heart monitor, and in 1991 joined Bioject as executive vice president of marketing and sales.

[4] As COO he drove a redesign of the company's lead product, the Biojector, a handheld device employing compressed carbon dioxide to shoot vaccines through the skin.

[10][6] In 1999 Hollis-Eden licensed intellectual property from Roger Loria, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, that covered the DHEA analog drug candidate 5-Androstenediol that was later called Neumune.

[11] These compounds turned out to have the ability to regulate the immune system and to drive the body to make more blood cells and proved promising in models of radiation poisoning.

[15][16][17][13][18] His lobbying and media appearances turned to fierce criticism of the government in 2007 when Neumune was dropped from Project Bioshield, leaving Hollis-Eden's business without funding or a market, and causing its shares to lose a third of their value; the company cut 20% of its workforce soon after.