San Francisco's Jaguar Health Inc. agreed to issue 5,524,926 preferred shares in a private placement to Sagard Capital Partners LP, a private equity firm.

The company, which develops gastrointestinal therapies for humans and animals, expects to raise about $9.2 million through the placement.

Proceeds will go toward commercializing Jaguar Health's Mytesi, an anti-diarrheal drug for HIV/AIDS patients, and general corporate purposes.

Each preferred share is convertible into common shares of the company.

Sagard Capital Partners may also elect two directors to Jaguar Health's board under certain circumstances. To that end, Jaguar Health has already appointed Jeffrey Johnson to its board.

Johnson is a partner at Sagard Holdings ULC and an investment manager at Sagard Capital Partners Management Corp.

Concurrently, Jaguar Health issued $5 million worth of common shares at 17 cents each to certain institutional investors. The company said it will use proceeds to repay certain fees relating to its acquisition of Napo Pharmaceuticals Inc. in July 2017.