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Jaguar Health Subsidiary Receiving Preclinical Services from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for New Preclinical Study Initiated July 21, 2020 for Lechlemer Plant-based Drug Candidate for Cholera
SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / July 22, 2020 / Jaguar Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAGX) ("Jaguar" or the "Company") announced today that the 28-day preclinical
About this update from Jaguar Health, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / July 22, 2020 / Jaguar Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAGX) (\"Jaguar\" or the \"Company\") announced today that the 28-day preclinical toxicology and safety study in rats began yesterday to support development of lechlemer, the second generation, plant-based anti-secretory drug candidate of Napo Pharmaceuticals (\"Napo\"), Jaguar's wholly owned subsidiary, for the symptomatic relief of diarrhea from cholera.As previously announced, Napo Pharmaceuticals is receiving preclinical services from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (\"NIAID\") to support lechlemer development. Under NIAID's suite of preclinical services, NIAID-funded contractors are conducting the 28-day rat study. NIAID is part of the National Institutes of Health.\"We are grateful for NIAID's support to conduct this important 28-day toxicity and safety study in rats, which is expected to support the Investigational New Drug (IND) application we plan to file for lechlemer,\" stated Steven King, PhD, Jaguar's chief of sustainable supply, ethnobotanical research and IP. \"As announced in October of 2019, a short-term, 7-day, preclinical toxicology study in rats to support lechlemer development for cholera has been completed. Under NIAID's suite of preclinical services, NIAID-funded contractors conducted the initial 7-day rat toxicology study, and completion of this shorter study allowed for this longer-term, 28-day, IND-enabling toxicity study.\"The Company believes that lechlemer, which has the same mechanism of action as 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, the Company believes 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 for ...