NewBiotics

NewBiotics, founded in 1997 and headquartered in San Diego, was a biotechnology firm focused on developing therapeutics for cancer and infectious diseases. The company's core technological platform, known as Enzyme Catalyzed Therapeutic Agents (ECTA), was designed to address drug resistance in treatments. This approach aimed to activate anti-tumor compounds directly within cancer cells by utilizing the very mechanisms that typically confer resistance to chemotherapy drugs like fluoropyrimidines and doxorubicin. One of the company's key discoveries was related to the double-minute chromosome, which is exclusively found in cancer cells, and its technology enabled the purification of this DNA from tumors.

The company's lead compound, NB1011, was developed for drug-resistant colorectal cancer and received FDA approval for an investigational new drug application in March 2001, with clinical trials planned for later that year. Over its operational history, NewBiotics successfully raised approximately $22.7 million in capital through multiple funding rounds, including a Series C round of $11 million in July 2001. Key investors included firms such as BioVeda Capital, EQT Life Sciences, and GeneChem. Following its development and clinical trial progress, NewBiotics was acquired by Celmed BioSciences on July 2, 2004.

Subsequent to the acquisition, the domain newbiotics.com appears to have been adopted by a separate entity, New Biotic, Inc., founded in 2008 and based in Irvine, California. This clinical-stage biotech company concentrates on microbiome research to address the root causes of central nervous system (CNS) disorders. New Biotic's research, ongoing since 2008, centers on the gut-brain connection. The company's lead product is RaphaLX™, a biotherapeutic formulation derived from human gut bacteria for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). RaphaLX™ has received Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) from both the U.S. FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which provides incentives for the development of drugs for rare diseases. The company is also developing patent-pending blood diagnostic biomarkers to be used as companion diagnostics for ALS and other neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Keywords: NewBiotics, ECTA technology, cancer therapeutics, infectious disease, drug resistance, double-minute chromosome, NB1011, colorectal cancer, Celmed BioSciences, New Biotic Inc, microbiome research, CNS disorders, gut-brain connection, RaphaLX™, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS treatment, Orphan Drug Designation, diagnostic biomarkers, neurodegenerative disease, biotechnology