Jaguar Announces Initial Close of Series A Round

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Jaguar Animal Health, Inc. ("Jaguar") announced an initial $2 million closing of its Series A round of financing.   BioVeda China Fund ("BVCF"), a private equity and growth capital investor based in China, funded the initial closing and will invest another $3 million by the end of February 2014.  Jaguar was founded with seed funding and resources from Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Napo") and existing Napo investors.

Jaguar is focused on the development and commercialization of health solutions for the global veterinary marketplace from plants used traditionally in rain forest areas.  Jaguar's products will target companion animals, high valued racing animals, and food and farm animals with both prescription pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals.  

Jaguar has an exclusive worldwide license from Napo for all animal rights to products developed from Croton lechleri, in addition to Napo's medicinal plant library and NP-500, a drug candidate to potentially treat insulin resistant syndrome and Type II diabetes.  Jaguar will also, pursuant to the license agreement, receive certain manufacturing equipment and an inventory of products derived from Croton lechleri.  Napo is a major shareholder of Jaguar.

The proceeds of the Series A financing will be used for operations including studies of SP-303, a pharmaceutical compound isolated and purified from Croton lechleri, and SB-300, a standardized botanical extract/nutraceutical product derived from Croton lechleri.   Funds will also be used to complete market studies, hiring of personnel, establishing manufacturing capabilities, and regulatory activities.

Dr. Zhi Yang, MD, PhD and Founder and Managing Director of BVCF said, "We are very pleased to be making our first investment in animal health for the world markets.  This is a focus for us and we plan to expand our portfolio of investments in companies involved in animal health and food security." 

About BVCF
BVCF (http://bvcf.com/, formally known as BioVeda China Fund) is the first and go-to private equity and growth capital investor specializing in China Life Sciences and Healthcare industry. Headquartered in Shanghai, BVCF's team includes partners with premier academic backgrounds and extensive operational experience. Investors include institutional limited partners and leading MNC pharmaceutical companies. BVCF focuses on investment in mid-market Life Science and Healthcare companies in China. The BVCF team takes an active approach with all of its investments, through predominantly significant minority ownership position and selected control stake position.

SOURCE Jaguar Animal Health, Inc.