Newbro's herpicide was invented by Mr Dupont Newbro. Newbro, originally from Butte, Montana, set up a drug store in 1891 and rapidly expanded into a wholesale supplier with offices in the US and Europe. In 1898 Newbro became convinced that parasites caused first dandruff and hair loss ultimately leading to baldness. He set about finding a natural treatment to combat these scalp invading parasites. It took 18 months of research with the help of bacteriologists of the day, but eventually they developed a formula that "killed" the parasites. Convinced of their new treatment's effectiveness they sent samples to medical practitioners many of whom reported back that the treatment was indeed effective. Newbro called his treatment "herpicide" probably from the Latin herpes meaning "creep" and "cide" meaning death. Herpicide became a phenomenal success and was sold across the US and in some European cities. It was still available into the 1920s.

The advertising slogan "too late for Herpicide" became a popular phrase in the 1920s and was applied to situations not related to hair loss. The phrase outlasted the company and was used well into the 1950s.