News Release Details
News Release Details
Napo Pharmaceuticals, a Jaguar Health Family Company, Exhibiting at the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Congress for the FDA-Approved Gelclair Oral Mucositis Prescription Product
Gelclair® is the company's third commercialized prescription product
Oral mucositis, also called "chemo mouth," a painful inflammation of the mouth's mucous membranes, has emerged as the most significant adverse event in oncology according to a National Comprehensive Cancer Network task force
Napo's core target patient audiences for Gelclair are head and neck cancer patients and bone marrow transplant patients
"We have expanded our footprint beyond HIV-related supportive care to include cancer-related supportive care, and our recent in-licensing of the FDA-approved oral mucositis product Gelclair is a first building block," said
"Cancer is chaotic, because patients feel a loss of control - over their life, their treatment, and their supportive care needs," said Conte. "Jaguar's mission is to change patients' lives for the better, especially in the area of supportive care for complex disease states like cancer. We look forward to driving awareness among the oncology nursing community at ONS about Gelclair. Oral mucositis, also called "chemo mouth," is among the most common, painful, and debilitating cancer treatment-related side effects, and it is undertreated and underappreciated. We believe we can help cancer patients by giving them a supportive care product for oral mucositis that provides soothing, quick, and lasting pain relief without stinging, drying or burning."
"If it weren't for Gelclair, I don't know if I would have continued with chemo. It was that painful. Gelclair gave me relief when nothing else did - it allowed me to keep going," said Megan-Claire, a Gelclair patient brand ambassador for Napo.
Gelclair is a protective gel with a mechanical action indicated for the management of pain and relief of pain by adhering to the mucosal surface of the mouth, soothing oral lesions of various etiologies, including oral mucositis/stomatitis. Unlike other products for oral mucositis, it is not a numbing agent and does not

"Nurses play a vital role in providing integrated supportive care to cancer survivors to meet various physical, psychological, and social support needs," added Conte. "Jaguar and Napo acknowledge the rigors of both short-term and chronic treatment and do not believe any cancer therapy-related side effect, whether it is extreme fatigue, debilitating diarrhea, oral mucositis, hair loss, chronic pain, or others, should ever be viewed as ‘acceptable' or ‘tolerable.' We live in the age of targeted therapies, and thanks to these amazing drugs, cancer patients are living longer - 5, 10, 20 years. Targeted therapies often lead to more severe side effects, however, and patients want to live, not just survive."
Napo's core target audiences for Gelclair are head and neck cancer patients and bone marrow transplant patients, and oncology-focused health care professionals. Head and neck cancers account for nearly 4 percent of all cancers in
Oral mucositis has emerged as the most significant adverse event in oncology according to a National Comprehensive Cancer Network task force.3 Up to 40% of all patients treated with chemotherapy develop oral mucositis, and this percentage rises to approximately 90% for patients with head and neck cancers treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.4 Of the latter, 19% may end up being hospitalized, experiencing a delay in antineoplastic treatment for high-grade mucositis management, resulting in a reduction of the quality of life, a worse prognosis, and an increase in patient management costs.4 Oral mucositis impacts a patient's ability to swallow, speak, eat, and drink - and may lead to cancer treatment discontinuation.5 It is estimated that at least 11% of head and neck cancer patients experience cancer treatment interruption due to oral mucositis.6
"Those of us working in the oncology field know the impact that side effect-related delays or cessation of cancer treatment can have on overall survival and on the efficacy of treatment," Conte said. "Of patients with head and neck cancers treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy who develop oral mucositis, half of the cases are typically considered severe - meaning oral mucositis of grade 3 or 4, which may require hospitalization and may require parenteral nutrition and IV hydration, and the morbidity and expense associated with those interventions."
Jaguar also remains focused on development of crofelemer for cancer therapy-related diarrhea (CTD). As announced, the analysis of the prespecified subgroup of adult patients with breast cancer from Napo's recently conducted Phase 3 prophylactic
The annual
About Gelclair®
INDICATIONS
GELCLAIR® has a mechanical action indicated for the management of pain and relief of pain by adhering to the mucosal surface of the mouth, soothing oral lesions of various etiologies, including oral mucositis/stomatitis (may be caused by chemotherapy or radiation therapy), irritation due to oral surgery, traumatic ulcers caused by braces or ill-fitting dentures, or disease. Also, indicated for diffuse aphthous ulcers.
Please see full Prescribing Information at:
https://www.gelclairhcp.com/pdf/prescribing-information-instructions-for-use.pdf
About the Jaguar Health Family of Companies
For more information about:
Napo Therapeutics, visit napotherapeutics.com
Magdalena Biosciences, visit magdalenabiosciences.com
Visit the Make Cancer Less Shitty patient advocacy program on Bluesky, X, Facebook & Instagram
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements." These include statements regarding the expectation that Napo will exhibit at the
1 https://www.cancer.gov/types/head-and-neck/head-neck-fact-sheet
2 https://www.aacr.org/patients-caregivers/awareness-months/head-and-neck-cancer-awareness-month/
3
4 Pulito C, Cristaudo A, Porta C, Zapperi S, Blandino G, Morrone A, Strano S. Oral mucositis: the hidden side of cancer therapy. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2020
5
6 Trotti A, et al. Mucositis incidence, severity and associated outcomes in patients with head and neck cancer receiving radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy: a systematic literature review. Radiother Oncol. 2003 Mar;66(3):253-62. doi: 10.1016/s0167-8140(02)00404-8 . PMID: 12742264.
Contact:
Jaguar-JAGX
SOURCE:
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