Napo Pharmaceuticals Comments on the Passing of HIV/AIDS Activist and Research Pioneer Dr. Mathilde Krim

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Napo), a human health company developing and commercializing novel gastrointestinal prescription products from plants used traditionally in rainforest areas, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jaguar Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAGX), is deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Mathilde Krim, Cofounder and Chairperson of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). Dr. Krim was a pioneer in HIV research and her contributions have helped save countless lives and pave the way forward in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

“As the HIV community mourns the loss of Dr. Krim, we at Napo would like to recognize her immense contributions to the fight against HIV. Dr. Krim leaves a long legacy that will continue onward with the work of amfAR and within the generations that stem from those whose lives she saved,” stated Lisa Conte, CEO of Napo.

Dr. Krim, a geneticist and virologist, carved a long and prestigious history of battling HIV as a scientist, a human rights activist, philanthropist and educator. Dr. Krim passionately fought for the rights and anti-stigmatization of people living with HIV, for legislation regarding expanded access to lifesaving treatment, for the development of sound, AIDS-related public policies, and ethical HIV treatment and prevention research.

In 1983, to raise funds for AIDS research, Dr. Krim and others founded the AIDS Medical Foundation, which later merged with the National AIDS Research Foundation to form amfAR. From 1990–2004, she served as amfAR’s chairman of the board.

Over the past 34 years, amfAR has invested over $450 million to support HIV research and the Foundation’s ground-breaking programs, such as their Countdown to a Cure Initiative and the amfAR Institute for HIV Cure Research.

amfAR’s research initiatives have helped advance our understanding and progress on HIV treatment, prevention, and epidemiology and greatly contributed to the development of several new classes of antivirals, including Fusion Inhibitors and CC5 antagonists. amfAR’s early studies of protease inhibitors helped to revolutionize HIV treatment, resulting in transforming HIV/AIDS into a treatable disease. amfAR continues to financially support prevention research to lessen the impact of HIV to the MSM and transgender communities; support the safe and effective delivery of HIV treatments in the Asia-Pacific region and conduct vital research towards the discovery of a scientific basis for an HIV cure—by the year 2020.

Dr. Krim received her Ph.D. in Geneva, Switzerland in 1953. She worked as a research scientist at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research and, from 1981–1985, was the director of its Interferon Laboratory. She was an adjunct professor of Public Health and Management at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Krim was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002 by President Bill Clinton in recognition of her “extraordinary compassion and commitment”. Shocked by news footage of Nazi concentration camps in 1945, Dr. Krim joined the Zionist underground organization Irgun and spent a summer smuggling guns into France for resistance fighters against British rule over Palestine.

About Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

San Francisco-based Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Napo), focuses on developing and commercializing proprietary human gastrointestinal pharmaceuticals for the global marketplace from plants used traditionally in rainforest areas. Napo is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jaguar Health, Inc., a commercial stage natural-products pharmaceuticals company focused on developing novel, sustainably derived gastrointestinal products for both human prescription use and animals on a global basis.

For more information about Napo, please visit napopharma.com. For more information about Jaguar, visit jaguar.health.

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