Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Appoints New Vice-President of Business Development

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Napo), which focuses on the development and
commercialization of proprietary pharmaceuticals for the global marketplace in
collaboration with local partners, is pleased to announce the appointment of
Deebie Symmes as Vice President - Business Development. Ms. Symmes will be
responsible for maximizing the value of Napo`s pipeline through partnering
arrangements. Ms. Symmes has almost 20 years of business development experience
with pharmaceutical companies including Chiron Corporation, IntraBiotics
Pharmaceuticals, Tularik Inc. and ARYx Therapeutics originating and closing
transactions across the pharmaceutical spectrum.

Lisa A. Conte, CEO of Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., commented: "We are delighted
to have someone with Deebie`s broad experience joining us to head our business
development effort. Deebie`s background in pharmaceutical collaborations will be
a big plus for us as we prioritize our partnering efforts for our second
generation CFTR inhibitors - which are small molecule drug candidates that the
same mechanism of action as crofelemer, Napo`s first-in-class Phase 3 compound
for diarrhea and other gastrointestinal diseases."

Additionally, Napo is seeking a partner for its diabetes compound, NP 500, which
has a novel mechanism of action and is ready to enter Phase 2 clinical studies.
Napo has a broad early stage screening program for novel agents derived from
medicinal plants used traditionally in tropical areas for the indications of
diabetes and infectious diseases.

Commenting on this announcement, Deebie Symmes said: "I am pleased to be part of
Napo's team and in particular the partnering of the CFTR technology. Napo`s
expertise in chloride channel technology has a benefit in gastrointestinal
diseases, where crofelemer has generated important clinical data in AIDS-related
diarrhea, cholera, and IBS. This novel mechanism may also have application in
polycystic kidney disease, a leading cause of renal failure. In addition, Napo`s
NP-500 program may potentially provide a new avenue for early treatment in type
2 diabetes via a novel mechanism."

About Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. focuses on the development and commercialization of
proprietary pharmaceuticals for the global marketplace in collaboration with
local partners. Napo was founded in November, 2001, and is based in California,
USA with a subsidiary in Mumbai, India.

Napo's late-stage proprietary gastro-intestinal compound, crofelemer, is in
various stages of clinical development for four distinct product indications,
including a late-stage Phase 3 program:

 CRO-HIV for AIDS diarrhea, Phase 3 (under a Special Protocol Assessment)

 CRO-IBS for diarrhea irritable bowel syndrome ("D-IBS"), Phase 2

 CRO-ID for acute infectious diarrhea (including cholera), Phase 2

 CRO-PED for pediatric diarrhea, Phase 1

The FDA has granted fast-track status to CRO-IBS and CRO-HIV.

Napo has licensed crofelemer to Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for all indications
in North America, Europe (excluding certain smaller countries), and Japan
including chronic diarrhea in people living with HIV/AIDS which is currently in
Phase 3, and certain indications worldwide. Crofelemer is also licensed to
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. of Mumbai, India in 140 emerging and developing
countries for CRO-HIV, CRO-ID and CRO-PED indications; and to AsiaPharm, Ltd. in
greater China for the same indications.

Crofelemer, a proprietary patented agent, is extracted from Croton lechleri, a
medicinal plant which can be sustainably harvested from several countries in
South America. Napo also plans to develop an early clinical stage product,
NP-500, for the treatment of insulin resistant diseases of Type II diabetes and
metabolic syndrome (Syndrome X; pre-diabetic syndrome). Napo also has a plant
library of approximately 2,300 medicinal plants from tropical regions, and Napo
has entered two screening relationship associated with this collection.

For more information please visit www.napopharma.com.

About Crofelemer

Crofelemer, a proprietary patented agent, is extracted from Croton lechleri, a
medicinal plant which can be sustainably harvested from several countries in
South America. Crofelemer is in various stages of clinical development for four
distinct product indications, one in Phase 3, two in Phase 2 and one in Phase 1.

Crofelemer has been tested in trials involving approximately 1700 patients in
double-blind placebo-controlled, mostly published trials of AIDS diarrhea,
diarrhea-predominant IBS, and acute infectious diarrhea. It is generally well
tolerated and has shown significant anti-diarrheal activities and improvement in
gastrointestinal symptoms. Crofelemer produces several effects when administered
orally providing for activity in several disease indications. Crofelemer's
anti-secretory mechanism reduces excess fluid secreted into the
gastro-intestinal tract, while its anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity may
provide the rationale for its significant benefit in abdominal pain. Crofelemer
acts locally in the intestines, with limited systemic exposure.

Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Lisa Conte, Chief Executive Officer
(001) + 650 616 1902

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