SAN FRANCISCO, Ca., June 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., , which focuses on the development and commercialization of proprietary pharmaceuticals for the global marketplace in collaboration with local partners, is pleased to announce that employer approval for the appointment of Mr. Thomas Van Dyck has been received and his appointment to the Board of Napo as a Non-Executive Director has been confirmed with immediate effect.
Thomas Van Dyck specializes in Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and is a pioneer in the industry. Currently, he is a Senior Vice-President with the SRI Wealth Management Group at RBC Dain Rauscher, one of the leading consulting teams on SRI in the country. Previously, he led the philanthropic and social investment consulting at Piper Jaffray & Company and was a co- founder of Progressive Asset Management. He has authored numerous articles on SRI and is quoted often in national and local media outlets. His passion and quantitative work toward not compromising performance while applying qualitative screens to investment portfolios helped CALPERS in adapting Green Wave in 2004. From 2005 to 2006, he led Piper Jaffray as it created the first Clean Tech Private Equity fund in the country. He earned a bachelors degree in political science from Duke University and also completed the Certified Investment Management Analyst Program at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Company confirms that there is no additional information that is required to be disclosed under Rule 9.6.13 of the Listing Rules of the UK Listing Authority.
Lisa A. Conte, CEO of Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. commented: "I am delighted to welcome Tom to the board. Tom has been a significant contributor to the mission of the Company to demonstrate greater financial return by addressing global health and environmental concerns in the course of implementing our drug development business objectives. He is well known to several of our investors and brings broad capital markets experience."
Commenting on this announcement, Mr. Van Dyck, said: "I am pleased to be part of Napo's triple bottom line agenda, which includes superior financial, environmental and global health performance. Napo's development programs are a good fit with the agenda of the socially responsible investor community."
For more information please contact: Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc Lisa Conte, Chief Executive Officer 001 + 650 616 1902 Charles Thompson, Chief Financial Officer 001 + 650 616 1903 Buchanan Communications + 44 (0)20 7466 5000 Tim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson Noonan Russo 001 + 619 814 3510 Greg Geissman
About Napo
Napo Pharmaceuticals Inc., focuses on the development and commercialization of proprietary pharmaceuticals for the global marketplace in collaboration with local partners. Napo was founded in November 2001, and is based in California, USA with a subsidiary in Mumbai, India.
Napo's late-stage proprietary gastro-intestinal compound, crofelemer, is in various stages of clinical development for four distinct product indications, including a late-stage Phase 3 program:
* CRO-HIV for AIDS diarrhea, Phase 3 * CRO-IBS for diarrhea irritable bowel syndrome ("D-IBS"), Phase 2 * CRO-ID for acute infectious diarrhea (including cholera), Phase 2 * CRO-PED for paediatric diarrhea, Phase 1
The FDA has granted fast-track status to CRO-IBS and CRO-HIV.
Crofelemer, a proprietary patented agent, is extracted from Croton lechleri, a medicinal plant which can be sustainably harvested from several countries in South America. Napo also plans to develop an early clinical stage product, NP-500, for the treatment of insulin resistant diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Napo also has a plant library of approximately 2,300 medicinal plants from tropical regions and Napo has entered two screening relationships associated with this collection. Currently, products are based on the chemical and biological diversity derived from plants with medicinal properties, but future products may be in-licensed from other sources.
Napo has partnerships with Trine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of the United States of America; Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited of India; and AsiaPharm Group Ltd. of China. For more information please visit http://www.napopharma.com
About Crofelemer
Crofelemer, a proprietary patented agent, is extracted from Croton lechleri, a medicinal plant which can be sustainably harvested from several countries in South America. Crofelemer is in various stages of clinical development for four distinct product indications, one in Phase 3, two in Phase 2 and one in Phase 1.
Crofelemer has been tested in trials involving approximately 1,500 patients in double-blind placebo-controlled, mostly published trials of AIDS diarrhea, diarrhea-predominant IBS, and acute infectious diarrhea. It is generally well tolerated and has shown significant anti-diarrheal activities and improvement in gastrointestinal symptoms. Crofelemer produces several effects when administered orally providing for activity in several disease indications. Crofelemer's anti-secretory mechanism reduces excess fluid secreted into the gastro-intestinal tract, while its anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity may provide the rationale for its significant benefit in abdominal pain. Crofelemer acts locally in the intestines, with limited systemic exposure.
Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.CONTACT: Lisa Conte, Chief Executive Officer, 001 + 650 616 1902, orCharles Thompson, Chief Financial Officer, 001 + 650 616 1903, both of NapoPharmaceuticals, Inc; or Tim Anderson or Mary-Jane Johnson, + 44 (0)20 74665000, both of Buchanan Communications; or Greg Geissman, 001 + 619 8143510, of Noonan Russo
Web site: http://www.napopharma.com//
