Comments on: Napo pharmaceuticals bucks the trend bringing drugs to the third world

By: Lack of economic demand for infectious disease hurting research :: OnThePharm

Lack of economic demand for infectious disease hurting research :: OnThePharm — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 02:02:10 +0000

[...] The study suggests private-public partnerships (PPPs) to help the problem. Other companies, like Napo Pharmaceuticals, are taking a different approach to drug development banking on an inexpensive treatment with super-wide appeal to make money. Think of it as the Henry Ford way of doing business in a cash-strapped third world. Both ideas are intriguing, but I think the PPP route ultimately will have more traction. In a cash- and research-intensive field like drug discovery, adopting an unprone business models involves a bit more risk than a rich, first-world investor looking to make a buck is willing to take. It’ll be up to organizations like the Gates Foundation to pick up the slack left behind by the for-profit sector. [...]

By: John

John — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 17:58:29 +0000

I’m concerned that if this does work out for Napo pharmaceuticals economically, and other companies rush into 3rd world countries, that those citizens will become involuntary guinnea pigs for some of these huge companies. Several have already exhibited far below stellar moral and ethical principles. If companies do rush unproven/less proven drugs into less developed areas, which turn out to have serious side effects, what recourse will the affected people have?

Also, knowing how corporate America feels about the almighty dollar and it’s monopolistic urges, I could easily see companies trying to sign non-competition deals with governments to bar or limit other pharmaceutical manufacturers with or without similar products, from the country.

Finally, an affordable solution for some of these giant companies would be to bring back/reintroduce some drugs of the past that worked albeit too well for them (people got better, not strung out). With more modern production techniques and the huge volume potential combined with new market strategies such that Napo is following, making people better (not just feeling better for a time) could be quite profitable.

By: Rian

Rian — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 20:54:55 +0000

Thanks for leaving the feedback and clarifications. We likely won’t see the drug in the US for a few years at least, so there’s no chance that I’d see it in action for a while. All I can find out about it is what you read in the lay press. It hasn’t hit micromedex, yet.

By: Sudeep Bansal

Sudeep Bansal — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 18:57:08 +0000

I am a physician from India and have had a chance to use this drug on a number of patients.

There are 2 things that i would like to point out. Firstly most deaths from diarrhea in 3rd world countries are not due to chronic but acute form of diarrhea. There was a recent breakout of acute diarrhea in our city which lasted for a couple of months and took the lives of number of children and adults.

Secondly this drug does not, I repeat does not work as well as lomotil or loperamide. We had a number of cases where this drug had average to minimal effect in patients with multiple ongoing watery stools. Loperamide was then used to control diarrhea.

From our experience we found that Crofelemer worked well in patients with mild to moderate diarrhea (3-10 stools/day). For severe diarrhea combination of loperamide plus crofelemer worked as good or slightly better than loperamide alone while crofelemer alone was inadequate.

Mild to modereate diarrhea were well controlled on loperamide alone.

However as a physician I welcome another good drug to our arsenal for fighting diseases.

By: Larry Harris

Larry Harris — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 04:30:59 +0000

I think that this drug and the process of filling a basic need of the third world has the potential of making the pharmaceutical companies respected again amongst consumers. It is a fresh spin on a common approach. By keeping the price for the drug at a minimum provided that it does indeed work they are opening it up to a relatively untapped market. Once the rest of the world finds out, Viola! It will be a veritable cash cow.

By: The Boschmans Account » Blog Archive » A Novel Way of Treating Diarrhea, Only Available In 3rd World Countries (for now)

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 10:04:47 +0000

[...] San-Francisco based Napo Pharmaceuticals has created a novel new drug against diarrhea which is quite unique in the way it works AND in how it is to be sold : Crofelemer is unique in how it works because traditional anti-diarrhea medications like Lomotil and Loperamide decrease bowel motility, and are absorbed by the bloodstream. Crofelemer works locally, only in the gut, to stop the flow of �excess� water. (I use the term �excess� loosely because the water often lost in diarrhea cannot afford to be lost, and isn�t actually �excess� in the traditional sense of the word.) [...]