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Napo Appoints Dr. Jerome Ernst as Clinical Science Advisor

South San Francisco, California, 4 February 2008 - South San Francisco, California, Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (LSE: NAPL), which focuses on the development and commercialization of proprietary pharmaceuticals for the global marketplace in collaboration with local partners, announces the appointment of Jerome Ernst, M.D., M.S. as Clinical Science Advisor. Dr. Ernst joins the Clinical Development team at Napo and will assume certain of the strategic and operational responsibilities for the CRO-HIV Phase 3 trial for crofelemer. Dr. M. Scott Harris will remain the Medical Monitor for Napo's ongoing crofelemer clinical trials in a consulting role.

Dr. Ernst is a board certified physician in internal medicine and pulmonary diseases. Since 1999, Dr. Ernst has been the Medical Director of the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA), a New York-based non-profit research organization engaged in AIDS-related research. Since 2000, Dr. Ernst has also been the Medical Director of VidaCare, a non-profit special needs program (SNP) of New York Medicaid Managed Care for people living with HIV and AIDS. Prior to his appointments with ACRIA and VidaCare, Dr. Ernst created and led the AIDS Program at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center from the start of the epidemic through 1999. He also served as the Associate Director of Medicine and Chief of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care, as well as the first Chief of Infectious Diseases, during his tenure at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center. Currently, Dr. Ernst is also an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he has remained on their faculty since 1988, holding faculty positions in Medicine, Epidemiology and Social Medicine. Dr. Ernst is also the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Bronx AIDS Services and previously held Board positions at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center and the Highbridge Woodycrest Center. Dr. Ernst obtained his degree in medicine cum laude from Tel Aviv University. He also holds a master's degree in public administration from New York University. Dr. Ernst has approximately 30 publications and book chapters and has made more than 35 presentations at national and international research meetings. He is a member of several prestigious professional societies and has been a recipient of numerous research grants. He has also been an investigator on several HIV/AIDS clinical trials.

Lisa A. Conte, CEO of Napo commented: "We are very happy that Dr. Ernst has accepted this position and joins the Napo team. He is very familiar with crofelemer and quite importantly, clinical trials involving the HIV/AIDS community and understands the challenges chronic diarrhoea causes to people living with HIV/AIDS."

Dr. Ernst commented: "My interest in Napo comes from its incorporation of global health issues and solutions into its business strategy. Crofelemer, once approved, will be an important product that will address both diarrhoea and dehydration, not only in people living with HIV/AIDS, but also in life-threatening situations around the globe."

For more information please contact:

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

Charles Thompson, Chief Financial Officer
+001 (650) 616-1902

Buchanan Communications
+ 44 (0)20 7466 5000
Tim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson

Nomura Code Securities Limited
+44 (0)20 7776 1205
Clare Terlouw

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
• 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.

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. Currently, products are based on the chemical and biological diversity derived from plants with medicinal properties, but future products may be in-licensed from other sources.

Napo has partnerships with Trine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of the United States of America; Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited of India; and AsiaPharm Group Ltd. of China. For more information please visit www.napopharma.com.