A novel thiazole alkaloid, neobacillamide A (1), together with a known related one, bacillamide C (4), was isolated from the bacterium Bacillus vallismortis C89, associated with the South China Sea sponge Dysidea avara. The structure of the new compound was elucidated on the basis of its spectroscopic data. A plausible biosynthetic pathway is proposed. Neobacillamide A represents the first example of a thiazole-carboxamide bearing a 2-phenylethylamine moiety. © 2009 Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta AG.