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Jaguar Health Announces Completion of Preclinical Studies of Lechlemer, the Company's Human Drug Product Candidate for Cholera and Acute Infectious Diarrhea
Napo Pharmaceuticals, Jaguar's Subsidiary, Received Preclinical Services from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for the StudiesSAN
About this update from Jaguar Health, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Napo Pharmaceuticals, Jaguar's Subsidiary, Received Preclinical Services from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for the StudiesSAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / October 23, 2019 / Jaguar Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAGX) (\"Jaguar\" or the \"Company\") announced today the completion of the two short-term preclinical toxicology studies in rats and dogs intended to support continued development of lechlemer, the human drug product candidate of Jaguar's wholly-owned subsidiary, Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (\"Napo\"), for the symptomatic relief of diarrhea from cholera and potentially other acute infectious diarrheal conditions.The completion of these initial studies support the initiation of longer term toxicity and safety pharmacology studies that the Company expects will support the Investigational New Drug (IND) application Jaguar plans to file for lechlemer. As previously announced, Napo received preclinical services supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (\"NIAID\") to support development of lechlemer. NIAID is part of the National Institutes of Health. Under NIAID's suite of preclinical services, NIAID-funded contractors conducted the initial 7-day rat and dog toxicology studies.\"We are grateful for NIAID's support to conduct these preclinical animal studies of lechlemer, which will allow longer-term, IND-enabling studies, including 28-day toxicity studies in rats and dogs,\" Lisa Conte, Jaguar's president and CEO, stated. \"We believe lechlemer, which has a similar mechanism of action to crofelemer and is significantly less costly to produce, may support efforts to receive a priority review voucher from the FDA for a cholera indication. Priority review vouchers are granted by the FDA to drug developers as an incentive to develop treatments for neglected diseases and rare pediatric diseases. Additionally, we believe lechlemer represents a long-term pipeline opportunity as a second-generation anti-secretory agent, on a global basis, for multiple gastrointestinal diseases - especially in resource-constrained countries where cost of goods is a factor, in part, because requirements often exist in such regions for drug prices to decrease annually.\"Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. According to the Centers f...