Napo Pharm raises seed money for its anti-diarrheal drug
Napo Pharmaceuticals, a South San Francisco-based drug company, just closed a round of initial funding from Asset Management. The undisclosed sum is earmarked for its subsidiary Crofelemer Access Program Global, which makes an anti-diarrheal compound for HIV and AIDS patients. It is currently in phase-three clinical trials.
As part of the deal, Asset Management will receive royalties on the sale of the drug in North America, Europe and Japan. In December, Salix Pharmaceuticals acquired limited rights to the compound, allowing the company to commercialize it for HIV patients as well as for people suffering from pediatric diarrhea or acute infectious diarrhea in those same regions. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has also licensed the drug for sale in 140 countries outside of North America, the European Union and Japan, according to VentureWire.
The compound, also called crofelemer, has also proved effective for the treatment of cholera and irritable bowel syndrome in some tests.
Next Story: South49 nabs $1.2M for remote workforce management
Previous Story: LinkageBio connects $2M for organ transplant typing
About the Author, Camille Ricketts
Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
With GreenBeat 2009, VentureBeat's all-star conference on all things Smart Grid, coming up in November, Camille will be expanding coverage of this exciting space. Stay up to date by following @greenbeat2009 on Twitter or by becoming a fan of the event on Facebook here.