The Napo Way is the circular action model that defines our essence: from nature we draw the tools for the care of human health, from human care we learn how to build remedies for the environment and for our society.
Our products are of plant origin, of sustainable derivation and designed for the global market: we believe every country and every population should have access to Napo Therapeutics’ drugs.
Over the past 20 years we have studied and worked with people, research institutes and communities in the Peruvian Amazon to develop a sustainable method of growing and harvesting the tropical plant Croton lechleri.
For centuries called ‘sangre de drago’ – dragon’s blood – by the indigenous peoples of the Amazon region, the sap of the Croton lechleri tree has been used for bandages, to soothe wounds and intestinal diseases.
The Croton lechleri tree is widespread in the rainforests of Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Brazil. In the 1980s, several of these areas – including the green valleys of the Pichis River, where the Ashàninka, Yànesha and Cacataibo peoples live – began to be the destination of new migratory flows from other regions of South America. New uses, commercial techniques and land use practices appeared. One of these developments, which is responsible for significant social conflict and environmental damage, is the cultivation of coca leaves to produce drugs. Local governments and non-governmental organizations in the region continue to work alongside local populations to promote crop replacement and better social conditions in these areas.
In the early 2000s, Jaguar Health and its wholly owned Napo Pharmaceuticals subsidiary started collaborating with local producers to support the sustainable harvest of Croton lechleri, with the aim of ensuring the long-term resilience of this medicinal plant for the benefit of patients, local producers, indigenous communities and our ecosystem.
We have developed a method that combines harvesting, reforestation and low impact cultivation.
The sap of Croton lechleri is extracted from trees that have previously been planted for this purpose. Harvesting takes place in a manner designed to maximize the amount of resin taken from the tree and to contribute to the natural regeneration of the soil in secondary forests where the land has been degraded by deforestation.
Croton lechleri is already a natural optimizer of soil conditions. Our sap extraction process incorporates the tree’s ability to improve the biological composition of the soil and provide shade for undergrowth.
For every tree harvested, we replant at least two or three more: since 2000 about 800,000 Croton lechleri trees have been planted in seven areas of Peru; 40,000 trees between 2020 and 2021 alone.
After the sap is extracted, the cut tree is left on the ground to allow the trunk to be reintegrated into the ecosystem, while the collected seeds are used for reforestation. The sap is registered, through a high-quality test, filtered and then packaged for transport.
This harvesting process would not have been possible without the teaching and support of many local and indigenous individuals, research institutes and communities in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Thanks to the indigenous Yanesha and Ashaninka del Pichis communities of the Palcazu, Awajun, Kichwa Valleys and to the indigenous Kandozi tribes. Thanks to the Llchapa community and the Maijuna indigenous people of Sucusari, on the banks of the Napo River.
More than 500 kg of pasta, over 200 specific food products for children, 200 liters of milk, more than 200 products for care and hygiene: these are some of the primary goods collected with the United4ourFuture campaign in a very short time to help families in difficulty.
Discrimination makes us angry.
In our country, much can and must still be done to promote the virtuous circle of equality, female leadership and sustainable economic growth. In Italy, one in two women do not work. And when a woman in Italy works, she earns less than her male colleagues. Only 28% of working women in Italy reach high management positions; in the healthcare sector, the management positions held by women are few. Very few. Just 15% of the directors of complex healthcare facilities are women and only 18% of university chairs in medical disciplines are held by women.
In Italy, one in two women do not work. And when a woman in Italy works, she earns less than her male colleagues.
Only 28% of working women in Italy reach high management positions; in the healthcare sector, the management positions held by women are few.
Just 15% of the directors of complex healthcare facilities are women
only 18% of university chairs in medical disciplines are held by women.
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