New venture aligns with Jaguar's mental
health Entheogen Therapeutics Initiative (ETI) and Filament's
corporate mission to develop novel, natural prescription medicines
from plants
Magdalena Biosciences will leverage
Jaguar's proprietary medicinal plant library and Filament's
proprietary drug development technology
Magdalena Biosciences is currently valued
at US$5.0 million based on initial
and tranched funding of US$1.0
million from One Small
Planet
SAN
FRANCISCO, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ - Jaguar Health,
Inc. (NASDAQ: JAGX), Filament Health Corp. (NEO: FH) (OTCQB: FLHLF)
and One Small Planet, LLC today
announced the formation of a U.S.-based joint venture named
Magdalena Biosciences, Inc. to develop novel, natural prescription
medicines derived from plants for mental health indications
including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in
adults. Initial funding of US$1,000,000 will be invested by Boulder, Colorado-based One Small Planet, founded by Will Peterffy. This funding will be payable in
quarterly installments in 2023 based on the achievement of defined
milestones by Magdalena Biosciences. The goal of the collaboration
is to extend the botanical drug development capabilities of Jaguar
and Filament in order to develop pharmaceutical-grade, standardized
drug candidates for mental health disorders, and to partner with a
potential future licensee to develop and commercialize these novel
plant-based drugs.
![Filament Health Logo (CNW Group/Filament Health Corp.) Filament Health Logo (CNW Group/Filament Health Corp.)](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980419/Filament_Health_Corp__Jaguar_Health_and_Filament_Health__with_Fu.jpg)
"We are thrilled about the formation of Magdalena Biosciences
and look forward to working with Filament and One Small Planet on this exciting initiative,"
said Lisa Conte, Jaguar's president
and CEO. "The formation of Magdalena Biosciences allows for the
mobilization of a key asset we have generated over 30 years – a
library of 2,300 highly characterized medicinal plants and 3,500
plant extracts, all from firsthand ethnobotanical investigation by
Jaguar and members of the Scientific Strategy Team for Jaguar's
mental health Entheogen Therapeutics Initiative (ETI), bridging the
knowledge of traditional healers and Western medicine. Magdalena
Biosciences holds an exclusive license to plants and plant extracts
in Jaguar's library, not including any sources of crofelemer
or NP-300, for specific indications and is in the process of
identifying plant candidates in the library that may prove
beneficial for addressing indications such as ADHD."
"Filament is a leader in the discovery, development and
standardization of botanical medicines, and we are dedicated to
supporting the treatment of mental health conditions through our
expertise, technologies and licensed facility," said Benjamin Lightburn, Chief Executive Officer of
Filament Health. "Filament has developed novel manufacturing and
standardization techniques which we have applied to botanical
medicines for the possible treatment of indications such as
depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We are
pleased to have partnered with Jaguar to form Magdalena Biosciences
and look forward to working with their team to identify and
standardize new botanical drugs for indications such as ADHD."
Once considered a childhood disorder, ADHD is now acknowledged
to persist into adulthood in approximately 50–65% of
individuals,1, 2, 3 and impacts an estimated 5.2% of
U.S. adults aged 18–44.1 Treatment of ADHD remains
challenging, as an estimated 20-50% of adult patients either are
non-responders to stimulants or cannot tolerate the adverse effects
of current therapeutics.4 New therapeutics in
development for the global ADHD market, a market projected to reach
a value of US$18.69 billion by 2030
according to a report by Grand View Research, show promise but
continue to have significant side effects.
"We look forward to developing a potential plant-based
alternative drug for adult ADHD that is both safe and efficacious,
especially with respect to executive function, the cognitive
skill deficit found in almost all pediatric and adult ADHD
patients," remarked Dr. Karen
Brunke, Jaguar's EVP of Corporate and Business Development
and Acting CEO of Magdalena Biosciences.
As with Napo Pharmaceuticals, Jaguar's wholly owned subsidiary,
this new company is named after a river that has great cultural
significance to Indigenous peoples. The Magdalena is the great
arterial river of Colombia,
flowing northward from its headwaters in the south of Colombia more than 900 miles to the Caribbean
Sea.
About Filament
Health
Filament Health (OTCQB:FLHLF) (NEO:FH) (FSE:7QS) is a
clinical-stage natural psychedelic drug development company.
Filament believes that safe, standardized, naturally-derived
botanical medicines can improve the lives of many, with a mission
to see them in the hands of everyone who needs them as soon as
possible. Filament's platform of proprietary intellectual property
enables the discovery, development, and delivery of natural
medicines, including psychedelic medicines, for clinical
development. Filament is paving the way with the first-ever natural
psychedelic drug candidates.
Learn more at www.filament.health and on Twitter,
Instagram and LinkedIn.
About One
Small Planet
One Small Planet is a vital
capital group. We are on a mission to harmonize the wealth of
people and planet by working with the intelligence of the natural
world to evolve our economic systems. Our founder, Will Peterffy, has spent his life building
bridges between the natural and financial worlds. Witnessing how
economic wealth was not incentivizing ecological wealth, he started
One Small Planet to participate in
the creation of new global systems informed by the natural world.
We work with capital to contribute to new systems focusing on
regenerative technologies that support human systems operating in
harmony with nature. To learn more visit onesmallplanet.org.
About Jaguar Health, Jaguar Animal
Health, Napo Pharmaceuticals, & Napo Therapeutics
Jaguar Health, Inc. is a commercial stage pharmaceuticals
company focused on developing novel, plant-based, non-opioid, and
sustainably derived prescription medicines for people and animals
with GI distress, including chronic, debilitating diarrhea. Jaguar
Animal Health is a tradename of Jaguar Health. Jaguar Health's
wholly owned subsidiary, Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., focuses on
developing and commercializing proprietary plant-based human
pharmaceuticals from plants harvested responsibly from rainforest
areas. Our crofelemer drug product candidate is the subject of the
OnTarget study, an ongoing pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial for
prophylaxis of diarrhea in adult cancer patients receiving targeted
therapy. Jaguar Health is the majority shareholder of Napo
Therapeutics S.p.A. (f/k/a Napo EU S.p.A.), an Italian corporation
established by Jaguar Health in Milan,
Italy in 2021 that focuses on expanding crofelemer access in
Europe.
For more information about Jaguar Health, please visit
https://jaguar.health. For more information about Napo
Pharmaceuticals, visit www.napopharma.com. For more information
about Napo Therapeutics, visit napotherapeutics.com.
FORWARD LOOKING
INFORMATION
Certain statements and information contained herein may
constitute "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking
information," respectively, under Canadian securities legislation.
Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use
of forward-looking terminology such as, "expect", "anticipate",
"continue", "estimate", "may", "will", "should", "believe",
"intends", "forecast", "plans", "guidance" and similar expressions
are intended to identify forward-looking statements or information.
Forward-looking statements herein include, but are not limited to,
statements regarding the resignation of Greg Mills from the board of directors and the
composition of the audit committee. The forward-looking statements
are not historical facts, but reflect the current expectations of
management of Filament regarding future results or events and are
based on information currently available to them. Certain material
factors and assumptions were applied in providing these
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements regarding
the Company are based on the Company's estimates and are subject to
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause the actual results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements of Filament to be materially different from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or
forward-looking information. There can be no assurance that such
statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated in such
statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements and forward-looking information.
Filament will not update any forward-looking statements or
forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference
herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.
1 Figure developed using data from
Fayyad J, Sampson NA, Hwang I, et al. The descriptive epidemiology
of DSM-IV Adult ADHD in the World Health Organization World Mental
Health Surveys. Atten Defic Hyperact Disord 2017; 9:
47-65.
|
2 Faraone SV, Biederman J, Mick E.
The age-dependent decline of attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder: a meta-analysis of follow-up studies. Psychol Med 2006;
36: 159-165.
|
3 Ebejer JL, Medland SE, van der Werf
J, et al. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Australian
adults: prevalence, persistence, conduct problems and disadvantage.
PLoS One 2012; 7: e47404.
|
4 Wender PH. 1998. Pharmacotherapy of
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults. J Clin
Psychiatry, 59:76–9; Wilens TE, Biederman J, Spencer TJ. 2002.
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder across the lifespan. Annu
Rev Med, 53:113–31; Wilens TE, Spencer TJ, Biederman J. 2002. A
review of the pharmacotherapy of adults with
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. J Atten Disord,
5:189–202.
|
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SOURCE Filament Health Corp.