Jaguar Health announces publication of study in PLOS ONE using crofelemer

Jaguar Health announced that a dog study evaluating the effects of crofelemer in providing symptomatic relief of diarrhea associated with the irreversible pan-human epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor neratinib has been published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE. The study, titled Effects of orally administered crofelemer on the incidence and severity of neratinib-induced diarrhea in female dogs, was conducted by Jaguar family company Napo Pharmaceuticals in collaboration with Puma Biotechnology. “We are very pleased with the results of this prophylactic study, which was undertaken to ‘model’ the human situation with neratinib,” said Lisa Conte, Jaguar’s president and CEO. “Crofelemer, our novel, oral, plant-based, non-opioid antidiarrheal prescription medication, is also the subject of OnTarget, Jaguar’s pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial for the follow-on indication of the preventative treatment of cancer therapy-related diarrhea, an indication we also refer to as chemotherapy-induced overactive bowel – which includes symptoms such as unpredictable and/or chronic debilitating diarrhea and GI urgency. Diarrhea, which has the potential to cause dehydration, infections, and non-adherence to treatment in cancer patients, is a growing unmet medical need in the age of targeted cancer therapies.” Conte added, “This neratinib study was the first of three studies over the past several years that provide scientific rationale for the use of crofelemer in humans for treatment of CTD. This continuum of datapoints highlights the neglected and growing need for prophylaxis of diarrhea in cancer patients. Prophylactic therapies exist to help prevent chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in cancer patients, but no antidiarrheal medications are currently approved for treatment of CTD. Interestingly, there is currently one available product for diarrhea in dogs undergoing cancer treatment: Canalevia-CA1, our FDA conditionally approved prescription drug for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced diarrhea in dogs.”