Jaguar Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAGX) (“Jaguar” or the “Company”) announced today that effective May 12, 2021, the Company granted nonstatutory stock options for the purchase of up to 4,000 shares of the Company’s common stock to New Employee 1, nonstatutory stock options for the purchase of up to 4,750 shares of the Company’s common stock to New Employee 2, and nonstatutory stock options for the purchase of up to 40,000 shares of the Company’s common stock to New Employee 3, as inducement awards under the Company’s Inducement Award Plan. These nonstatutory stock options granted to the three new employees referenced above have an exercise price of $1.22 per share, representing the closing price of Jaguar’s common stock as reported by Nasdaq on the grant date. These nonstatutory stock option awards have a ten-year term and vest over three years, with 25% of the shares vesting 12 months from the employee’s date of hire, and thereafter, 3.125% vesting monthly for the remaining twenty-four months.
Effective May 12, 2021, the Company also granted 2,375 restricted stock units (RSUs) to New Employee 2. These RSUs have a ten-year term and vest over three years, with one-third of the shares vesting each year on the anniversary of the employee’s date of hire.
All RSUs and nonstatutory stock options described above were granted as an inducement material to each respective new employee’s acceptance of employment with the Company and were approved by the Compensation Committee of the Board. Vesting of the RSUs and nonstatutory stock options is subject to each respective employee’s continued service with Jaguar through the applicable vesting dates.
About Jaguar Health, Inc. and Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Jaguar Health, Inc. is a commercial stage pharmaceuticals company focused on developing novel, plant-based, non-opioid, and sustainably derived prescription medicines for people and animals with GI distress, specifically chronic, debilitating diarrhea. Our wholly owned subsidiary, Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., focuses on developing and commercializing proprietary plant-based human gastrointestinal pharmaceuticals from plants harvested responsibly from rainforest areas. Our Mytesi® (crofelemer) product is approved by the U.S. FDA for the symptomatic relief of noninfectious diarrhea in adults with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy and the only oral plant-based prescription medicine approved under FDA Botanical Guidance.
About Mytesi® Mytesi® (crofelemer delayed release tablets) is an antidiarrheal indicated for the symptomatic relief of noninfectious diarrhea in adult patients with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Mytesi® is not indicated for the treatment of infectious diarrhea. Rule out infectious etiologies of diarrhea before starting Mytesi®. If infectious etiologies are not considered, there is a risk that patients with infectious etiologies will not receive the appropriate therapy and their disease may worsen. In clinical studies, the most common adverse reactions occurring at a rate greater than placebo were upper respiratory tract infection (5.7%), bronchitis (3.9%), cough (3.5%), flatulence (3.1%), and increased bilirubin (3.1%).
More information and complete Prescribing Information are available at Mytesi.com. Crofelemer, the active ingredient in Mytesi®, is a botanical (plant-based) drug extracted and purified from the red bark sap of the medicinal Croton lechleri tree in the Amazon Rainforest. Napo has established a sustainable harvesting program for crofelemer to ensure a high degree of quality and ecological integrity.
Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements.” 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.