OUR COMMITMENT TO PLANTS, PEOPLE AND COMMUNITY
Jaguar Animal Health is a business unit of San Francisco, California-based Jaguar Health, (NASDAQ: JAGX), a pharmaceuticals company focused on developing novel, plant-based, non-opioid, and sustainably derived prescription medicines for people and animals with gastrointestinal distress, specifically chronic, debilitating diarrhea.
Crofelemer, the active ingredient in Canalevia -CA1, is a plant-based medicine purified from the red bark sap, also referred to as latex or "dragon's blood,” of the medicinal Croton lechleri tree in the Amazon Rainforest. The latex is sustainably harvested utilizing fair trade practices by local and Indigenous peoples with whom our team has been collaborating over the past two decades with the aim of ensuring a high degree of quality and ecological integrity. Our sustainable harvesting programs reduce CO2 emissions to minimize our carbon footprint and, since 2001, more than 800,000 Croton lechleri trees have been planted as part of our ongoing reforestation efforts.
Benefits sharing is also a core component of our mission, and donations from the company have been made to expand educational opportunities, protect water supplies, and boost economic resources in the rainforest regions where we operate.
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THE ORIGIN OF CROFELEMER AND OTHER PLANT-BASED THERAPEUTICS FROM JAGUAR ANIMAL HEALTH
Lisa Conte, the founder, president, and CEO of Jaguar Health, travelled to Africa in the mid-80s. During a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, her traveling companion was struck with altitude sickness. They came across a makeshift pharmacy with locally made medicines about halfway up the mountain, where her friend was given a botanical remedy that helped him finish the climb and reach the summit.
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From that experience, Lisa was inspired to create FDA-approved therapeutics that leverage the knowledge of traditional healers. The day after she got home from Africa, Lisa quit her job to investigate starting a biopharma company.
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Lisa then gathered a team of experts to facilitate a professional exchange between western-trained physicians and traditional healers to determine which plants Indigenous peoples use to treat ailments and diseases. The team then brought the plants back to the U.S. to screen their mechanisms of action (MOA).
Before long, the team focused its attention on crofelemer: a botanical drug extracted and purified from sangre de grado, the red latex of the Croton lechleri tree. The latex has a rich medicinal history and has been used for centuries by Indigenous peoples in the Western Amazon rainforests of South America to treat a variety of medical conditions.
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The latex continues to be used by traditional healers for treating humans, dogs, and livestock. Traditional healers in this region commonly use the latex to treat people suffering from diarrhea, stomach ulcers, coughs, and flu, and apply the latex topically as a wound healing agent for cuts and open sores, and for healing the gums after tooth extractions.
JAGUAR ANIMAL HEALTH
Jaguar Animal Health is an animal health company focused on creating plant-based gastrointestinal products for companion and production animals, foals, and high-value horses. Jaguar Animal Health is committed to discovering, developing, and commercializing plant-based prescription medicines and non-prescription products for animal health needs on a global basis. Each of our products are first-in-class and sustainably derived to ensure the highest degree of quality and ecological integrity.
Jaguar Animal Health (NASDAQ: JAGX) continues to support the discovery and development of medicines from its proprietary library of 2,300 plants; presenting its four-legged patients with an increasing number of options for effective bio-based treatments.
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Canalevia-CA1 is the lead prescription drug product for Jaguar Animal Health and is intended for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced diarrhea (CID) in dogs.
