Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> March 18, 2022
Lisa Conte is the founder, president and chief executive officer, and a member of the board of directors, of Jaguar Health, a commercial-stage pharmaceuticals company committed to discovering, developing and commercializing plant-based prescription medicines for urgent global health needs. Mytesi, the company’s FDA-approved drug product indicated for the symptomatic relief of noninfectious diarrhea in adults with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy, is a first-in-class, plant-based anti-secretory agent and the first oral drug approved under FDA Botanical Guidance. In July 2017, two companies founded by Ms. Conte — Napo Pharmaceuticals, a human-focused pharmaceuticals company, and Jaguar Animal Health, the veterinary-focused licensor of all of Napo’s technology — merged and now comprise Jaguar Health. In 1989, Ms. Conte also founded Shaman Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and has pioneered plant-based prescription medicine investigation and development for more than 30 years, including a recent Entheogen Therapeutics Initiative, looking at psychoactive plants for novel cures for mood disorders and CNS neurodegenerative diseases. Ms. Conte is currently a member of the board of directors of Healing Forest Conservatory, and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Life Science Leader magazine. She holds an M.S. in Physiology and Pharmacology from the University of California, San Diego, and an MBA and A.B. in Biochemistry from Dartmouth College. Profile
Word count: 4,170
TWST: Let’s start with a short overview of the company’s history and mission.
Ms. Conte: Jaguar Health does all our drug discovery from