Jaguar Health Subsidiary Receives Notice of Allowance from Canadian Intellectual Property Office for Patent Application

SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 30, 2019 / Jaguar Health, Inc. JAGX ("Jaguar" or the "Company"), today announced that the Company's wholly-owned, human-health focused subsidiary, Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Napo"), has received a Notice of Allowance from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for Canadian Patent Application No. 2,816,416, titled Methods and Compositions for Treating HIV-Associated Diarrhea.

"We are very pleased to receive this Notice of Allowance from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for this patent," Steven King, PhD, Jaguar's executive vice president of sustainable supply, ethnobotanical research and intellectual property, commented. "Jaguar, through Napo, holds extensive global rights for crofelemer, comprising a valuable and significant barrier to entry. At the present time we hold approximately 141 issued worldwide patents, with coverage in many cases that extends until 2031. These issued patents cover multiple indications including HIV-AIDS diarrhea, IBS, IBD, manufacturing, enteric protection from gastric juices, among others. We also have approximately 24 pending patent applications worldwide in the human health areas that are being prosecuted."

Additionally, Mytesi is the first oral drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under botanical guidance, which provides another barrier to entry from potential generic competition. The FDA requires that the manufacturer of crofelemer use a validated proprietary bioassay to release the drug substance and drug product of Mytesi. While most generic products are fashioned to meet chemical release specifications that are in the public domain, the specifics of this assay are not publicly available. There is no pathway by which a generic product can be developed for a drug approved under botanical guidance. In addition, Mytesi is not systemically absorbed, so the classic approach of creating a generic drug by matching pharmacokinetic blood levels is not possible. A generic player would have to conduct costly and risky clinical trials.

The patent covers methods for treating diarrhea by administering to a patient in need thereof, an inhibitor of chloride-ion transport in an amount sufficient to treat diarrhea. Treatment of diarrhea includes the treatment of the diarrhea as well as the pain, abdominal discomfort and other symptoms associated with diarrhea. In one embodiment, the inhibitor of chloride-ion transport is crofelemer.

Crofelemer (Mytesi^®) is the Company's anti-secretory anti-diarrheal approved by the FDA for the symptomatic relief of noninfectious diarrhea in adult patients with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

About Jaguar Health, Inc.

Jaguar Health, Inc. is a commercial stage pharmaceuticals company focused on developing novel, sustainably derived gastrointestinal products on a global basis. Our wholly-owned subsidiary, Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., focuses on developing and commercializing proprietary human gastrointestinal pharmaceuticals for the global marketplace from plants used traditionally in rainforest areas. Our Mytesi^® (crofelemer) product is approved by the U.S. FDA for the symptomatic relief of noninfectious diarrhea in adults with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy.

For more information about Jaguar, please visit jaguar.health. For more information about Napo, visit napopharma.com.

About Mytesi^®

Mytesi (crofelemer) is an antidiarrheal indicated for the symptomatic relief of noninfectious diarrhea in adult patients with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Mytesi is not indicated for the treatment of infectious diarrhea. Rule out infectious etiologies of diarrhea before starting Mytesi. If infectious etiologies are not considered, there is a risk that patients with infectious etiologies will not receive the appropriate therapy and their disease may worsen. In clinical studies, the most common adverse reactions occurring at a rate greater than placebo were upper respiratory tract infection (5.7%), bronchitis (3.9%), cough (3.5%), flatulence (3.1%), and increased bilirubin (3.1%).

See full Prescribing Information at Mytesi.com. Crofelemer, the active ingredient in Mytesi, is a botanical (plant-based) drug extracted and purified from the red bark sap of the medicinal Croton lechleri tree in the Amazon rainforest. Napo has established a sustainable harvesting program for crofelemer to ensure a high degree of quality and ecological integrity.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements." In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "aim," "anticipate," "could," "intend," "target," "project," "contemplate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are only predictions. Jaguar has based these forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified and some of which are beyond Jaguar's control. Some of the factors that could affect our actual results are included in the periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by applicable law, Jaguar does not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.

Source: Jaguar Health, Inc.

Contact:

Peter Hodge
Jaguar Health, Inc.
phodge@jaguar.health
Jaguar-JAGX

SOURCE: Jaguar Health, Inc.