Jaguar Health announces import of coca leaf from Peru by Magdalena JV

Jaguar Health (JAGX) announced that Magdalena Biosciences, the joint venture recently formed by Jaguar and Filament Health Corp. (FLHLF) completed an import of coca leaf to a Filament facility in Canada. Magdalena was founded on a mission to develop novel, natural prescription medicines derived from plants for mental health indications including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, and anxiety in adults. The coca leaf imported from Peru will be used for initial research purposes to look at these and other neuropsychiatric indications. The import of coca leaves was authorized by the Peruvian Health Authority – Direccion General de Medicamentos Insumos y Drogas – and acquired from the Empresa Nacional de la Coca, which is the only company in Peru authorized to collect, distribute, and export coca leaves and their derived products. “We are grateful to the Peruvian government for their cooperation, and look forward to Magdalena initiating its pioneering research into the potential benefits of coca for ADHD, depression, and anxiety,” said Steven King, PhD, Jaguar’s Chief Sustainable Supply, Ethnobotanical Research, and IP Officer and an Advisor to Magdalena, who facilitated the relationship with ENACO on behalf of Magdalena and Psilo Scientific. “In traditional medicine, coca leaves are utilized as a remedy for a wide variety of conditions, ranging from alleviating oral pain, digestive maladies, hunger, altitude sickness, as well as muscular and skeletal aches. Many commonly used neuropsychiatric medications have side effects such as personality changes or sedation. With centuries of use by Indigenous healers and traditional psychiatrists, plant-derived medicines offer potential new mechanisms of action for treating mental disorders while being potentially safer than the small molecule drugs that may have ‘off target’ effects.”