Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rockville, Maryland that focused on

gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract ...

ophthalmology Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

, and

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''� ...

-related disorders. In 2018, the company was acquired by

Mallinckrodt Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals is an American-Irish domiciled manufacturer of specialty pharmaceuticals (namely, adrenocorticotropic hormone), generic drugs and imaging agents. In 2017 it generated 90% of its sales from the U.S. healthcare system. ...

. Sucampo had two marketed products,

Amitiza Lubiprostone (rINN, marketed under the trade name Amitiza among others) is a medication used in the management of chronic idiopathic constipation, predominantly irritable bowel syndrome-associated constipation in women and opioid-induced constipa ...

, which treats constipation issues and Rescula, which helps treat

ocular hypertension Ocular hypertension is the presence of elevated fluid pressure inside the eye (intraocular pressure), usually with no optic nerve damage or visual field loss. For most individuals, the normal range of intraocular pressure is between 10 mmHg and 2 ...

and

open-angle glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company The is a Japanese multinational pharmaceutical company, with partial American and British roots. It is the largest pharmaceutical company in Asia and one of the top 20 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world by revenue (top 10 followin ...

had a license to distribute Rescula globally except for in Japan and China. The company had two Phase III drugs in development for rare diseases — one for Niemann-Pick Type C and the other for

familial adenomatous polyposis Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is an autosomal dominant inherited condition in which numerous adenomatous polyps form mainly in the epithelium of the large intestine. While these polyps start out benign, malignant transformation into colon ...

, which can cause colon cancer if untreated.

History

The company was founded by Ryuji Ueno and Sachiko Kuno in 1996. In January 2006, the company received approval from the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

for

. In 2010, the company entered into arbitration with its partner,

, claiming that sales of Amitiza floundered because of a half-hearted marketing effort by Takeda. Sucampo lost the arbitration. In late 2015, the company moved its headquarters from

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

to Rockville, Maryland. In January 2016, the company acquired an option for an exclusive license to a drug to treat

. In April 2017, the company acquired Vtesse. In February 2018, the company was acquired by

. At that time, the founders owned a combined 30% of the company.

References

{{Authority control 1996 establishments in Maryland Pharmaceutical companies established in 1996 2018 disestablishments in Maryland 2018 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 1996 American companies disestablished in 2018