NovoBiotic Pharmaceuticals

NovoBiotic Pharmaceuticals, founded in 2003 in Cambridge, MA, by Northeastern University professors Kim Lewis and Slava Epstein, is a privately held, early-stage biotechnology company. The company's core mission is to discover and develop new drugs from natural sources, particularly focusing on new antibiotics to combat serious drug-resistant infections. NovoBiotic aims to address the gap in new drug discovery, as many marketed antibiotics are derived from soil microbes, but few new classes have been introduced since the 1960s.

Notable affiliated individuals include founders Kim Lewis, the director of Northeastern's Antimicrobial Discovery Center, and Slava Epstein from the Department of Biology. Both serve as paid consultants for the company. NovoBiotic's key achievements include the discovery of teixobactin, a groundbreaking antibiotic that has shown effectiveness against resistant bacteria. The company's impact lies in its innovative approach to antibiotic discovery, potentially revolutionizing treatments for drug-resistant infections and contributing significantly to global health.