Napo Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced the submission of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a new crofelemer powder for oral solution formulation for the treatment of microvillus inclusion disease (MVID). While there are currently no approved therapeutic treatments for MVID, parenteral nutrition (PN), the standard of care for management of MVID, can cost up to $150,000 a year or more with complications. MVID patients suffer from severe cholera-like diarrhea, and symptomatic management of diarrhea in MVID may reduce their dependence on PN.

Jaguar company Napo Pharmaceuticals plans to support investigator-initiated trials of crofelemer for SBS with intestinal failure. Crofelemer is the only oral FDA approved drug under botanical guidance. It is plant-based, extracted and purified from the red bark sap of the Croton lechleri tree in the Amazon Rainforest.

Napo Pharmaceuticals has established a sustainable harvesting program, under fair trade practices, for crofelemer to ensure a high degree of quality, ecological integrity, and support for indigenous communities.