(By Balaseshan) Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SCMP) said its unit has received a milestone payment of $15 million from Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) on first sale of chronic constipation treating prescription medication Amitiza (lubiprostone) in Japan.
Sucampo AG has received a $15 million milestone payment from Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., pursuant to the existing license, commercialization, and supply agreement between Sucampo Pharma Ltd. (SPL), SPI's subsidiary, and Abbott.
The milestone payment was triggered by the first sale of Amitiza (lubiprostone) capsule 24 µg in Japan. Amitiza is available through Abbott in Japan as a prescription medication for chronic constipation not caused by organic diseases, and was launched to primary care and specialist physicians on November 21, 2012.
Amitiza is the world's first chloride channel activator approved for therapeutic use, and has a unique mechanism of action to restore mucosal barrier function. With more than six million prescriptions worldwide, it is the first and currently the only prescription medicine available in Japan for chronic constipation.
"The availability and first sale of Amitiza in Japan is another step forward in the company's objective of bringing medicines with novel mechanisms of action to patients globally with unmet medical needs," said Sucampo's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Scientific Officer Ryuji Ueno.
In 2009, SPL and Abbott entered into a license, commercialization and supply agreement for Amitiza in Japan.
Outside Japan, Amitiza is approved in the United States for the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) in adults (24 mcg twice daily) and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) in women 18 years of age and older (8 mcg twice daily). Amitiza is also approved for chronic idiopathic constipation in Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
SCMP closed Monday's regular session up 0.43% at $4.66, while ABT ended down 0.31% at $65.33.