SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.-Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Napo), which focuses on the development and commercialization of proprietary pharmaceuticals for the global marketplace in collaboration with local partners, is pleased to announce the appointment of Deebie Symmes as Vice President - Business Development. Ms. Symmes will be responsible for maximizing the value of Napo’s pipeline through partnering arrangements. Ms. Symmes has almost 20 years of business development experience with pharmaceutical companies including Chiron Corporation, IntraBiotics Pharmaceuticals, Tularik Inc. and ARYx Therapeutics originating and closing transactions across the pharmaceutical spectrum.
Lisa A. Conte, CEO of Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., commented: "We are delighted to have someone with Deebie’s broad experience joining us to head our business development effort. Deebie’s background in pharmaceutical collaborations will be a big plus for us as we prioritize our partnering efforts for our second generation CFTR inhibitors – which are small molecule drug candidates that the same mechanism of action as crofelemer, Napo’s first-in-class Phase 3 compound for diarrhea and other gastrointestinal diseases.”
Additionally, Napo is seeking a partner for its diabetes compound, NP 500, which has a novel mechanism of action and is ready to enter Phase 2 clinical studies. Napo has a broad early stage screening program for novel agents derived from medicinal plants used traditionally in tropical areas for the indications of diabetes and infectious diseases.
Commenting on this announcement, Deebie Symmes said: "I am pleased to be part of Napo's team and in particular the partnering of the CFTR technology. Napo’s expertise in chloride channel technology has a benefit in gastrointestinal diseases, where crofelemer has generated important clinical data in AIDS-related diarrhea, cholera, and IBS. This novel mechanism may also have application in polycystic kidney disease, a leading cause of renal failure. In addition, Napo’s NP-500 program may potentially provide a new avenue for early treatment in type 2 diabetes via a novel mechanism.”
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