Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was a pharmaceutical company headquartered in

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, and is part of the Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fourth ...

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, sometime ...

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

, 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 Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...

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

Mallinckrodt Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals plc 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 s ...

. Sucampo had two marketed products, Amitiza, which treats constipation issues and

Rescula Unoprostone (International Nonproprietary Name, INN) is a prostaglandin analogue. Its isopropyl ester, unoprostone isopropyl, was marketed under the trade name Rescula for the management of glaucoma, open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension. ...

, 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 ...

and open-angle glaucoma.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company The is a Japanese multinational pharmaceutical company. It is the third largest pharmaceutical company in Asia, behind Sinopharm and Shanghai Pharmaceuticals, and one of the top 20 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world by revenue (t ...

had a license to distribute

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 Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

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 respo ...

for Amitiza. 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, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

. 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