In August 2013, Trius Therapeutics was acquired by Cubist Pharmaceuticals - also, when they were much younger, an SBIR company. A biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of antibiotics for serious, life-threatening infections, products under development include Torezolid Phosphate, which had completed phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of serious gram-positive bacterial infections, including those caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The company is also developing antibiotics for gram-negative infections using its proprietary discovery platform under a contract funded by the National Institutes of Health. It has a cooperative research and development agreement with Lawrence Livermore National Security LLC for the research and development of gram-negative biodefense pathogens; and a license agreement with Dong-A Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. to develop and sell Torezolid Phosphate outside of Korea. The company was formerly known as Rx3 Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to Trius Therapeutics, Inc. in February 2007. In 2008, Trius was awarded a $28MM contract from NIAID to support its gyrase program and in 2010, DTRA awarded the Company a $29MM contract to undertake research for new antibiotics based on marine natural products.
