Magdalena Biosciences, a joint venture formed by Jaguar and Filament Health, is focused on developing novel prescription psychoactive plant-based medicines for various mental health indications
SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 20, 2024 / Jaguar Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAGX) ("Jaguar") today announced that Eduardo Zimmer, Ph.D., a key collaborator with Magdalena Biosciences ("Magdalena"), the joint venture formed by Jaguar and Filament Health Corp. (OTCQB:FLHLF)(CBOE CA:FH)(FSE:7QS) to develop novel, natural prescription psychoactive medicines derived from plants for mental health indications, is the 2024 recipient of the prestigious Blas Frangione Early Career Achievement Award. This award recognizes early career researchers whose cutting-edge research in Alzheimer's and dementia has the potential to impact the field by propelling it in novel directions.
"We're thrilled to see Dr. Zimmer, a key Brazil-based collaborator of Magdalena, recognized with this important award," said Dr. Karen Brunke, Jaguar's EVP of Corporate and Business Development and Acting CEO of Magdalena. "As announced, Magdalena recently initiated preclinical studies in Brazil to evaluate two botanical drug candidates for their potential to treat depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other possible neuropsychiatric conditions initially in adults. These preclinical studies consist of evaluating botanical drug candidates in mice, using fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) scans to look for differential neuronal activity, and analysis of the FDG PET scans is being performed by Dr. Zimmer's consultancy, Z.M. Health Consultoria. We hope to see differential synaptic activity and communication in specific brain regions (connectivity) of interest for a range of mental disorders with these botanical drug candidates. These studies will help determine what dose as well as the best first therapeutic indication for these botanical drug candidates for possible use in humans, aimed at potential future FDA approval as botanical drugs."
Dr. Zimmer's acceptance speech for the award can be viewed by clicking here.
Dr. Zimmer is an assistant professor at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, an adjunct professor at McGill Centre for Studies in Aging, Canada, and an Associate Researcher at the Brain Institute (Brazil). His research focuses on understanding the cellular origins of Alzheimer's, with a particular interest in neuroimaging, brain energy metabolism, and astrocytes. Dr. Zimmer's major findings include demonstrating that the in vivo activation or deactivation of astrocytes in rodents can change the brain FDG-PET signal, an imaging exam used in clinics as a biomarker of neurodegeneration, prompting a reconceptualization of its biological interpretation. He has received multiple individual awards, including the Best Brazilian Ph.D. thesis (2016) and the AAIC Neuroscience Next ‘One-to-Watch' Award (2021).
The Blas Frangione Award was established by and named for Blas Frangione, M.D., Ph.D., who is Professor Emeritus of Pathology and Psychiatry and Research Professor in the Departments of Pathology and Neurology at NYU Langone Medical Center. The Blas Frangione Foundation supports research in neuroscience.
Magdalena, which is currently approximately 40-percent owned by Jaguar, is focused on advancing plant-based innovation for patients and on identifying the next generation of plant-based first-in-class agents for treatment of mental health conditions. Botanical drug candidates have a long history of use by traditional healers and may have the potential for a new class of plant-based psychoactive drugs which are safe for daily at-home dosing.
About Botanicals Drugs
Botanicals drugs are defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as "products from plant materials, algae, macroscopic fungi, and combinations thereof." Many botanical drugs have a long history of safe use in traditional medicines, which may be documented and reviewed in scientific literature. Existing scientific literature on safety may accelerate the safety review process for a botanical drug, reducing the scope and financial burden for extensive safety studies. The FDA has established guidance on botanical drug development and recognizes the complexity of botanical drugs. Additionally, botanicals drugs, by virtue of their complexity, have the added benefit of being difficult to genericize. Hence there are often multiple opportunities for creating ‘trade-secrets,' as well as novel patents around a botanical drug substance, its processing, its formulation, and so forth.
About Filament Health (OTCQB:FLHLF)(CBOE CA:FH)(FSE:7QS)
Filament Health is a clinical-stage natural psychedelic drug development company. We believe that safe, standardized, naturally-derived psychedelic medicines can improve the lives of many, and our mission is 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 psychedelic medicines for clinical development. We are paving the way with the first-ever natural psychedelic drug candidates.
Learn more at www.filament.health and on Twitter and LinkedIn.
About the Jaguar Health Family of Companies
Jaguar Health, Inc. (Jaguar) is a commercial stage pharmaceuticals company focused on developing novel proprietary prescription medicines sustainably derived from plants from rainforest areas for people and animals with gastrointestinal distress, specifically associated with overactive bowel, which includes symptoms such as chronic debilitating diarrhea, urgency, bowel incontinence, and cramping pain. Jaguar family company Napo Pharmaceuticals (Napo) focuses on developing and commercializing human prescription pharmaceuticals for essential supportive care and management of neglected gastrointestinal symptoms across multiple complicated disease states. Napo's crofelemer is FDA-approved under the brand name Mytesi® for the symptomatic relief of noninfectious diarrhea in adults with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy. Jaguar family company Napo Therapeutics is an Italian corporation Jaguar established in Milan, Italy in 2021 focused on expanding crofelemer access in Europe and specifically for orphan and/or rare diseases. Jaguar Animal Health is a Jaguar tradename. Magdalena Biosciences, a joint venture formed by Jaguar and Filament Health Corp. that emerged from Jaguar's Entheogen Therapeutics Initiative (ETI), is focused on developing novel prescription medicines derived from plants for mental health indications.
For more information about:
Jaguar Health, visit https://jaguar.health
Napo Pharmaceuticals, visit www.napopharma.com
Napo Therapeutics, visit napotherapeutics.com
Magdalena Biosciences, visit magdalenabiosciences.com
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Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements." These include statements regarding the expectation that the two botanical drug candidates being analyzed with FDG PET scans may have the potential to be approved as botanical drugs. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "aim," "anticipate," "could," "intend," "target," "project," "contemplate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are only predictions. Jaguar has based these forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified and some of which are beyond Jaguar's control. Except as required by applicable law, Jaguar does not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.
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SOURCE: Jaguar Health, Inc.