{"entity":{"id":"natsar-pharmaceuticals","kind":"company","name":"NATSAR Pharmaceuticals","aka":["Natsar Pharmaceuticals, Inc.","Natsar"],"tldr":"NATSAR Pharmaceuticals is a Maryland company developing RK-33, a drug that blocks DDX3, a protein many tumours depend on. It plans a first trial in people.","summary":"NATSAR Pharmaceuticals, founded by Venu Raman of Johns Hopkins University, develops RK-33, a small-molecule inhibitor of the RNA helicase DDX3. The company reports anti-tumour activity in preclinical models of sarcoma, brain tumours, pancreatic, lung and triple-negative breast cancer and breast cancer bone metastasis, and radiosensitisation of cells that overexpress DDX3, and plans a phase 1 programme with an intravenous formulation. A National Cancer Institute SBIR award, in its second year in 2026, funds the development of RK-33 for breast cancer.","asOf":"2026-11-04","links":[{"label":"Official website","url":"https://www.natsarpharmaceuticals.com/"},{"label":"NIH RePORTER: award 5R44CA295155-02","url":"https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11419762"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["tnbc"],"sections":["targeted-therapy"],"technologies":[],"targets":["ddx3x"],"drugs":["rk-33"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":["Company website and the NIH RePORTER record read on 4 November 2026. The website calls RK-33 first-in-class; that is the company's claim."],"hq":"Ellicott City, MD","country":"US","companyType":"biotech","website":"https://www.natsarpharmaceuticals.com/","stage":"startup","investors":[],"funding":[{"round":"Grant","year":2026,"amountUsd":615189,"source":"https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11419762","note":"NCI SBIR (R44) award 5R44CA295155-02: Drug development of RK-33 for breast cancer treatment"}]},"route":"/companies/natsar-pharmaceuticals/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"tnbc","kind":"cancer","name":"Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)","route":"/cancers/tnbc/"}],"section":[{"id":"targeted-therapy","kind":"section","name":"Targeted Therapy","route":"/fronts/targeted-therapy/"}],"target":[{"id":"ddx3x","kind":"target","name":"DDX3X","route":"/targets/ddx3x/"}],"drug":[{"id":"rk-33","kind":"drug","name":"RK-33","route":"/drugs/rk-33/"}]}}