Napo Pharmaceuticals develops and commercializes prescription medicines that alleviate treatment‑related gastrointestinal distress, such as chronic diarrhea, urgency, and incontinence, in patients undergoing cancer therapy. Its lead product, Mytesi® (crofelemer), is in a Phase 3 trial for preventing chemotherapy‑induced overactive bowel and is also being studied for rare conditions like short bowel syndrome, leveraging a novel chloride‑channel inhibition mechanism sourced from sustainably harvested rainforest plants.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Patients undergoing treatments such as chemotherapy often experience overactive bowel symptoms—including chronic diarrhea, urgency, and incontinence—that significantly reduce quality of life and lack convenient, targeted therapies.
Solution
Napo Pharmaceuticals develops prescription medicines that address treatment‑related gastrointestinal distress by modulating secretory chloride ion channels in the gut. Their lead product, Mytesi® (crofelemer), is being evaluated in a Phase 3 pivotal trial as a preventative therapy for chemotherapy‑induced overactive bowel. Additional pipeline candidates, such as NP‑300, target infectious‑diarrhea and rare congenital diarrheal disorders. All compounds are derived from sustainably harvested rainforest plants, linking patient care with environmental stewardship.
Target Audience
Primary customers are oncologists, gastroenterologists, and infectious disease specialists treating patients with chemotherapy‑induced or infection‑related diarrhea, as well as clinicians managing rare congenital diarrheal disorders.
Features
- Crofelemer (NP‑303) inhibits two secretory chloride channels, reducing fluid secretion and alleviating diarrhea without affecting motility.
- Oral delayed‑release tablet formulation (Mytesi®) provides targeted delivery to the gastrointestinal tract.
- NP‑300 tablet candidate for symptomatic relief of diarrhea caused by bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections.
- Orphan‑drug designated programs for short bowel syndrome with intestinal failure and microvillus inclusion disease, expanding therapeutic reach to rare conditions.
- Sustainable, fair‑trade harvesting of Croton lechleri bark sap ensures high‑quality botanical raw material and supports rainforest conservation.
- Proprietary ethnobotanical discovery platform leverages traditional knowledge to identify novel gastrointestinal actives.