Founded as a biomarker/diagnostics company in 2005, Lixte has emphasized the development of new pharmacologic approaches to human cancers based on its discovery that one of its lead compounds, LB-100 and a homolog LB-102, markedly potentiate the effectiveness of two commonly used standard chemotherapy agents. This discovery is described in an article published in the Proceedings in the National Academy of Sciences and Cell Cycle [Lu et al. (2009) 106; 11697-11702]. The mechanism by which these compounds enhance the effectiveness of standard chemotherapy is by interfering with several critical mechanisms upon which all cells depend for surviving damage to their DNA. It appears that the acquired genetic damage that is responsible for the abnormal behavior of cancer cells also renders them more vulnerable than normal cells to the pharmacologic attack by the Lixte's LB-100 compounds, as described in Cell Cycle [Zhuang et al. (2009) 8; 3303-3306). If this proves to be the case, these agents may be useful for the treatment a broad spectrum of human cancers. Supported by a recent stock offering, the primary goal of Lixte in 2010 is to complete all pre-clinical evaluations necessary to receive FDA approval for Phase I studies of LB-100. Lixte also showed that two of lead compounds of a second class of drug, LB-201 and LB-205, have anti-cancer activity in animal models, and are also markedly protective in cell culture of the integrity normal brain cells (embryonic rodent neurons) after challenge by a variety of toxic insults used to in standard tests to assess the potential of drugs for treatment of chronic neurologic diseases. These results were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, 2009. Lixte is extending its assessment of the potential efficacy of a LB-200 compound into animal models of human brain diseases, beginning with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease).