Bethesda, Maryland, July 14, 2011 – Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCMP) today announced that Peter Lichtlen, M.D., Ph.D., has joined its wholly-owned subsidiary Sucampo AG as Senior Medical Officer and Vice President of European Operations. Dr. Lichtlen, formerly Head, Clinical R&D, at ESBATech AG, will provide leadership and guidance to clinical development activities in the U.S. and Europe and lead the European operations. He also will be responsible for overseeing the Medical Affairs teams and advising the global Pharmacovigilance teams. Dr. Lichtlen will report to James J. Egan, Chief Operating Officer, and Gayle R. Dolecek, P.D., M.P.H., Senior Vice President, Research & Development.
“We welcome Dr. Lichtlen to Sucampo and believe he will help to maximize the value of unoprostone isopropyl. We acquired its U.S. and Canadian development and commercialization rights in 2009 and recently acquired additional rights throughout Europe and the rest of the world except for Japan, Taiwan, Korea and the People’s Republic of China. We now are working to re-activate its lapsed European licenses and to enhance its label in the U.S. Dr. Lichtlen’s role in the life-cycle management of unoprostone isopropyl is to assist in guiding the development of new indications based on the recently disclosed results from an exploratory phase 2 trial in retinitis pigmentosa patients conducted by our Japanese partner, R-Tech Ueno, Ltd.,” said Ryuji Ueno, M.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Dr. Lichtlen was one of the first scientists to join ESBATech, AG, of Schlieren, Switzerland, a venture capitalist-backed company focused on the research and development of its proprietary antibody fragments for therapeutic applications. Now an Alcon Biomedical Research Unit, ESBATech was acquired in September 2009 for $150 million in cash plus contingent payments of up to $439 million based upon the achievement of future research and development milestones that would be expected to create value for Alcon. Dr. Lichtlen joined ESBATech in 2000 and held several progressively more senior positions, culminating in being named Medical Director/Head, Clinical R&D, and a member of its senior management team, a position he held from October 2004 to December 2010. In that role, Dr. Lichtlen was responsible for setting and managing clinical development strategy; serving as the scientific and medical lead for its clinical programs; overseeing interactions with regulatory agencies in Europe; and identifying new molecular targets and clinical indications, among other duties. Prior to joining ESBATech, Dr. Lichtlen earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in molecular biology at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. For his Ph.D., he was awarded the MD/PhD national scholarship by the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMW) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Dr. Lichtlen is a member of the Swiss Medical Association (FMH) and the Swiss Association of Pharmaceutical Professionals (SwAPP). He is the author or various peer-reviewed articles and holds four patents.
About Sucampo Pharmaceuticals
Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an international pharmaceutical company based in Bethesda, Maryland, is focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of proprietary drugs based on prostones. Prostones are a class of compounds that occur naturally in the human body as a result of enzymatic, 15-PGDH, transformation of certain fatty acids. The therapeutic potential of prostones was first identified by Dr. Ryuji Ueno, Sucampo’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He founded Sucampo Pharmaceuticals in 1996 with Dr. Sachiko Kuno, founding Chief Executive Officer and currently 2
Executive Advisor, International Business Development, and a member of the Board of Directors. For more information about Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, please visit www.sucampo.com.
About unoprostone isopropyl
Unoprostone isopropyl (also known as RESCULA®) is a synthetic docosanoid, a member of Sucampo’s family of prostones that activates the BK (maxi K) channel and is administered topically as a liquid eye drop. Physiologically, unoprostone isopropyl facilitates aqueous humor outflow and lowers intraocular pressure. Sucampo holds development and commercialization rights to unoprostone isopropyl throughout the world except in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China. Unoprostone isopropyl was first approved in Japan in 1994 for the treatment of Glaucoma and Ocular Hypertension. It was subsequently approved in a total of 45 countries throughout the world, including its approval in 2000 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the lowering of intraocular pressure (IOP) in primary open-angle Glaucoma and Ocular Hypertension patients intolerant of or insufficiently responsive to other IOP-lowering medications. Unoprostone isopropyl has been shown to be a very safe, well-tolerated and effective therapy through market experience.
About lubiprostone
Lubiprostone (also known as AMITIZA®) has received marketing approval by Swissmedic and upon completion of pricing negotiations, Sucampo expects to launch AMITIZA (24 mcg twice daily) for the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) patients there. Sucampo intends to pursue additional European marketing approvals to meet the needs of additional CIC patients there. In Japan, Sucampo has filed a new drug application (NDA) with the Pharmaceutical Medicines and Devices Agency for lubiprostone for the treatment of Japanese CIC patients, and has a commercialization and co-marketing agreement with Abbott Japan Ltd. In the U.S., Sucampo has a marketing and development agreement with Takeda Pharmaceuticals for AMITIZA (lubiprostone) which is the only FDA approved medication for the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) (24 mcg twice daily) in adults or for IBS-C (8 mcg twice daily) in women more than 18 years of age and older.
RESCULA® is a registered trademark of R-Tech Ueno, Ltd., and has been licensed to Sucampo. AMITIZA® is a registered trademark of Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Forward-Looking Statements Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for Sucampo Pharmaceuticals are forward-looking statements made under the provisions of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the words “project,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “will,” ”may” or other similar expressions. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including those described in Sucampo Pharmaceuticals’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, and other periodic reports filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements in this press release represent Sucampo’s views only as of the date of this release and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Sucampo does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
