Former Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Charles McMillan, PhD joins Board; Company receives $339,000 grant from New Mexico Department of Economic Development for job training through state’s Job Training Incentive Program (JTIP)
SANTA FE, N.M., Feb. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Nature’s Toolbox, Inc. (NTx), an early stage biomanufacturing and bioinformatics company, today announced that it has raised $13 million in new funding. The Series A round was led by venture capital firm Anzu Partners. The new funding will be used to advance the company’s proprietary host-independent biological manufacturing and development platform used for pharmaceutical drug discovery and manufacturing of biologicals to counter disease. The continuous flow platform can produce biologics with exceptional efficiency, higher yields, less biproduct waste, and a significant departure in physical footprint and cost compared to the world’s current batch production processes.
“Current production methods for biologics rely on E. coli enzymes for in vitro methods, or slower and more costly fermentation processes, that are known to be challenged by consistency issues and inefficient in the production of clean, quality products of requisite purity,” said Alex Koglin, PhD, co-founder of NTx. “NTx has developed a completely novel recombinant cell-free biosynthesis platform, that is designed to drive and sustain syntheses for days, with the goal of allowing one person, using a single workstation, to produce enough of any single protein vaccine or biologic for 100 million people in a 30-day period.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), vaccines for the influenza virus for the U.S. population take at least six months to produce, requiring manufacturers to begin production long before the flu season begins and before it is known which strain of flu strain will most commonly present itself during peak infection times. Using NTx’s platform, manufacturers could produce large quantities of the flu vaccine in real-time, and specific to the predominant strain as it emerges, eliminating the guesswork that currently exists.
The potential of the technology extends far beyond that of vaccines. Protein-based therapies used to fight cancer and autoimmune disorders have traditionally suffered from the same fundamental manufacturing challenges that burden vaccines.
“The tremendous boost to production efficiencies inherent to the NTx process could facilitate the entry of more economically priced biologics and biosimilars,” said Koglin.
The company also announced that Charles McMillan, PhD has joined the company’s Board of Directors. Dr. McMillan served as the 10th Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico before retiring from the role in 2017.
“I am excited to join the board and NTx and be part of a company that will change the way we develop and produce pharmaceutical products for the global population, from anti-infective agents to personalized cancer therapies,” said Dr. McMillan.
In addition to this significant financing, NTx also announced that it has received a $339,000 grant from the New Mexico Department of Economic Development’s Job Training Incentive Program (JTIP). The program funds classroom and on-the-job training for newly created jobs in expanding or relocating businesses and will be used to help train 12 new NTx employees.
“NTx is on the forefront of the biomanufacturing and bioinformatics industry,” added New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Alicia J. Keyes. “The state is thrilled that they are based in New Mexico and making Santa Fe their home for the next growth phase.”
For more information about NTx Bio, please visit: https://www.ntxbio.com.
About NTx
Nature’s Toolbox, Inc. (NTx) is an early stage biomanufacturing and bioinformatics company based in Santa Fe, NM. The company has developed a proprietary host-independent biological manufacturing and development platform used for pharmaceutical drug discovery and manufacturing of biologicals to counter disease. For more information, please visit: https://www.ntxbio.com.
About Anzu Partners
Anzu Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in breakthrough industrial technologies. Anzu teams with entrepreneurs to develop and commercialize technological innovations by providing capital and deep expertise in business development, market positioning, global connectivity, and operations. For more information, please visit https://www.anzupartners.com. On Twitter: @anzupartners.
CONTACT
Rob Haralson for NTx
(202) 674-6679, rhh@anzupartners.com
SOURCE Nature’s Toolbox, Inc. (NTx)
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