XML 39 R7.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.5.0.2
Note 1 - Business Organization and Basis of Presentation
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Notes to Financial Statements  
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Text Block]
1.
Business Organization and Basis of Presentation
 
Description of the Business
 
Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (Company) is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on developing, identifying, acquiring and bringing to market innovative medicines that meet unmet medical needs. Our primary focus areas are gastroenterology, ophthalmology, and oncology-related disorders.
 
The Company currently generates revenue mainly from product sales, product royalties, upfront and milestone payments, and reimbursements for development activities. The Company expects to continue to incur significant expenses for the next several years as the Company continues its research and development activities, seeks additional regulatory approvals and additional indications for approved products and other compounds and seeks strategic opportunities for in-licensing new products and product candidates.
 
AMITIZA
®
(lubiprostone) is being marketed for three gastrointestinal indications under the collaboration and license agreement (as amended in October 2014, the North America Takeda Agreement) with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda). These indications are chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) in adults, irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) in adult women and opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in adults suffering from chronic non-cancer related pain. Under the North America Takeda Agreement, the Company is primarily responsible for clinical development activities, while Takeda is responsible for commercialization of AMITIZA in the United States (U.S.) and Canada. The Company and Takeda initiated commercial sales of AMITIZA in the U.S. for the treatment of CIC in April 2006, for the treatment of IBS-C in May 2008 and for the treatment of OIC in May 2013. Takeda is required to provide a minimum annual commercial investment during the current term of the North America Takeda Agreement and may reduce the minimum annual commercial investment when a generic equivalent enters the market. In October 2015, Health Canada approved AMITIZA for CIC in adults. In October 2014, the Company and Takeda executed amendments to the North America Takeda Agreement, which, among other things, extended the term of the North America Takeda Agreement beyond December 2020. During the extended term beginning in January 2021, Takeda and the Company will share the annual net sales revenue of the branded AMITIZA products. The Company also partnered with Par Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Par) and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) in connection with the settlement of patent litigation in the U.S. related to our AMITIZA (lubiprostone) 8 mcg and 24 mcg soft gelatin capsule products. Under the agreement with Par, the Company granted Par a non-exclusive license to market Par’s generic version of lubiprostone 8 mcg and 24 mcg soft gelatin capsules in the U.S. for the indications approved for AMITIZA beginning January 1, 2021, or earlier under certain circumstances. Beginning on January 1, 2021, the Company and Par will split the gross profits of the licensed products sold during the term of the agreement, which continues until each of the related patents has expired. Under the agreement with DRL, the Company granted DRL a non-exclusive license to market DRL’s generic version of lubiprostone 8 mcg and 24 mcg soft gelatin capsules in the U.S. for the indications approved for AMITIZA beginning January 1, 2023, or earlier under certain circumstances. Beginning on January 1, 2023, DRL will pay to the Company 30% of the gross profits of the licensed products sold during the term of the agreement, which decreases over time and ends when all of the related patents have expired. Under the terms of the agreement with Par, DRL’s entry into the generic lubiprostone market will cause the Company’s share of gross profits from Par’s licensed products to decrease from 50% to 15%. In the event that either Par or DRL elect to launch an authorized generic form of lubiprostone, the Company has agreed to supply such product under the terms of a manufacturing and supply agreement at a negotiated price.
 
In Japan, AMITIZA is marketed under a license, commercialization and supply agreement (the Japan Mylan Agreement) that was transferred to Mylan, Inc. (Mylan) from Abbott Laboratories, Inc. (Abbott), as of February 2015, as part of Mylan’s acquisition of a product portfolio from Abbott. The Company received approval of its new drug application (NDA) for AMITIZA for the treatment of chronic constipation (CC), excluding constipation caused by organic diseases, from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) in June 2012 and pricing approval in November 2012. AMITIZA is Japan’s only prescription medicine for CC. The Company did not experience any significant changes in the commercialization of AMITIZA in Japan as a result of the transfer of the Japan Mylan Agreement from Abbott to Mylan.
 
In May 2015, the Company entered into an exclusive license, development, commercialization and supply agreement (the China Gloria Agreement) with Harbin Gloria Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (Gloria), for AMITIZA in the People’s Republic of China. Under the China Gloria Agreement, Gloria is responsible for all development activities and costs, as well as commercialization and regulatory activities, for AMITIZA in the People’s Republic of China. The Company will be the exclusive supplier of AMITIZA to Gloria at an agreed upon supply price. Upon entering into the China Gloria Agreement, the Company received an upfront payment of $1.0 million. In June 2015, the China Food and Drug Administration accepted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for a pivotal trial of AMITIZA in patients with CIC; as a result, the Company received an additional payment of $500,000 from Gloria. In addition to the $1.5 million in payments received and recognized as revenue through June 2015, the Company is eligible to receive an additional payment for $1.5 million upon the occurrence of a specified regulatory or commercial milestone event.
 
In October 2014, the Company entered into an exclusive license, development, commercialization and supply agreement (the Global Takeda Agreement) for lubiprostone with Takeda, through which Takeda has the exclusive rights to further develop and commercialize AMITIZA in all global markets, except the U.S., Canada, Japan and the People’s Republic of China. Takeda became the marketing authorization holder in Switzerland in April 2015 and in the United Kingdom (U.K.), Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Spain during 2016, and is expected to become the marketing authorization holder in Italy in the last quarter of 2016.
 
Before the execution of the Global Takeda Agreement, the Company retained full rights to develop and commercialize AMITIZA for the rest of the world’s markets outside of the U.S., Canada and Japan. In the U.K., the Company received approval in September 2012 from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for the use of AMITIZA to treat CIC. The Company made AMITIZA available in the U.K. in the fourth quarter of 2013. In July 2014, National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published the technology appraisal guidance recommending the use of AMITIZA in the treatment of CIC and associated symptoms in adults who have failed laxatives. In January 2015, the Company successfully completed the European mutual recognition procedure (MRP) for AMITIZA for the treatment of CIC in select European countries, resulting in marketing authorizations in these countries.
 
In Switzerland, AMITIZA was approved to treat CIC in 2009. In 2012, the Company reached an agreement with the Bundesamt fur Gesundheit, (BAG), the Federal Office of Public Health in Switzerland, on a reimbursement price for AMITIZA in Switzerland, and began active marketing in the first quarter of 2013. In February 2014, the Company announced that the BAG revised several reimbursement limitations with which AMITIZA was first approved for reimbursement and inclusion in the Spezialitätenliste (SL) to allow all Swiss physicians to prescribe AMITIZA to patients who have failed previous treatments with at least two laxatives over a nine-month period. In July 2014, AMITIZA was approved for the treatment of OIC in chronic, non-cancer adult patients by the Swissmedic, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products, and in October 2015, the BAG added this indication to the SL.
 
In October 2015, Takeda obtained approval of the clinical trial application (CTA) for AMITIZA for the treatment of CIC and IBS-C in Russia that was submitted in June 2015. In December 2015, a CTA was filed for AMITIZA for the treatment of CIC, IBS-C and OIC in Mexico and South Korea. Takeda initiated phase 3 registration trials in Russia in March 2016 and in South Korea and Mexico in May 2016. An NDA for the treatment of CIC, IBS-C, and OIC was submitted in Israel in June 2015 and approved in July 2016. An NDA for the same indications was submitted in Kazakhstan in December 2015. Additional NDA submissions in 2016 are planned in various other markets.
 
As part of the acquisition of R-Tech in October 2015, the Company acquired all rights to RESCULA, an ophthalmology product used to lower intraocular pressure. In the U.S., the Company ceased marketing RESCULA in the fourth quarter of 2014 and no product was made available after the March 2015 expiration date. In May 2015, the Company returned all licenses for unoprostone isopropyl to R-Tech. In June 2016, the Company completed the withdrawal of the marketing authorization for RESCULA in the U.S. RESCULA is being commercialized by Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd in Japan, Dong-A Pharmaceutical, Co., Ltd in South Korea and Sinphar Pharmaceutical, Co., Ltd and Zuellig Pharma Inc. in Taiwan.
 
The Company’s other current clinical development programs include the following:
 
Lubiprostone Alternate Formulation
The Company has been developing an alternate formulation of lubiprostone for both adult and pediatric patients who are unable to take or do not tolerate capsules and for naso-gastric tube fed patients. Takeda has agreed to fund 100% of the costs, up to a cap, of this alternate formulation work and the Company expects to initiate a phase 3 trial of the alternate formulation of lubiprostone in adults in the second half of 2016 and, if the trial is successful, to file an NDA in the U.S. for the alternate formulation for adults in the second half of 2017.
 
Lubiprostone for Pediatric Functional Constipation
The phase 3 program required to support an application for marketing authorization of lubiprostone for pediatric functional constipation comprises four clinical trials. The first two trials, one of which was recently completed, test the soft gelatin capsule formulation of lubiprostone in patients 6 to 17 years of age. The first of these trials is a pivotal 12-week, randomized, placebo-controlled trial which was initiated in December 2013 and completed enrollment in April 2016. The second trial is a follow-on, long-term safety extension trial that was initiated in March 2014. In early November, the Company announced that the phase 3 trial of AMITIZA in pediatric functional constipation in children 6 to 17 years of age failed to achieve its primary endpoint of overall spontaneous bowel movement (SBM) response. The trial achieved statistical significance for some secondary endpoints, notably overall SBM frequency, straining, and stool consistency. In addition, in this study lubiprostone was well tolerated. The Company intends to review these results with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other constituencies, and will announce next steps at the completion of this review. Additionally, after consultations with the FDA to better determine the doses and endpoints that should be studied, the phase 3 trial for the alternate formulation of lubiprostone described above will be followed in mid-2017 with a phase three program in children 6 months to 6 years of age using the alternate formulation. Takeda has agreed to fund 67% of the costs, up to a cap, of this pediatric functional constipation program.
 
VAP-1 Inhibitor RTU-1096
RTU-1096 is an oral compound recently under development for indications in auto-immune/inflammatory and immune-oncology diseases. In the first quarter of 2016, the Company completed a phase 1 trial in healthy individuals that evaluated the safety and pharmacokinetics of the compound. No significant safety issues were reported during the seven-day study. There was evidence of inhibition of systemic VAP-1 at all doses tested and the trial provided evidence of proof of mechanism
.
However, based on additional non-clinical data generated in the quarter, development of the compound has been discontinued.
 
VAP-1 Inhibitor RTU-009
RTU-009 is a pre-clinical stage, VAP-1 inhibitor that was planned to be studied in acute cerebral infarction. However, based on new non-clinical data and the decision to discontinue the development of RTU-1096, the development pathway has been revised to target chronic inflammatory conditions. The redirection of the RTU-009 program for chronic inflammatory conditions is just in the beginning stages and has no perceived value. However, the Company plans to complete IND-enabling studies, and thereafter initiate clinical-stage development if the compound meets additional pre-specified non-clinical development goals.
 
CPP-1X/Sulindac Combination Product
In January 2016, the Company entered into an option and collaboration agreement under which Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CPP) has granted the Company the sole option to acquire an exclusive license to commercialize CPP-1X/sulindac combination product in North America. This product is currently in a phase 3 clinical trial being conducted by CPP for the treatment of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). Under the agreement with CPP, the Company has the exclusive option to license this product in North America. There are currently no approved treatments for FAP. The ongoing phase 3 study is a 150-patient, three-arm, double-blind, randomized trial of the combination agent and the single agent comparators. Enrollment in the study has completed, and results from a Phase 3 futility analysis are expected to be available in the 4th quarter of 2016 or early 2017. The trial is expected to conclude in 2018. More information regarding the Company’s arrangement with CPP is set forth in note 19 below.
 
Cobiprostone
In April 2016, the Company discontinued the development of cobiprostone for the treatment of proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-refractory non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) or symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease (sGERD), based on its analysis of top-line data from a Phase 2a study. While cobiprostone was observed to have significant benefit in some of the secondary parameters of this exploratory study, the trial did not meet its primary endpoints. In July 2016, the Company discontinued the development of an oral spray formulation of cobiprostone for the prevention of oral mucositis in patients that are undergoing radio chemotherapy for head and neck cancer, based on the results of a pre-specified futility analysis of the Phase 2a study. The futility analysis indicated that the clinical benefit of cobiprostone was insufficient to support continuation of the study.
 
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (GAAP) and the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2015 included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, which was filed with the SEC on March 11, 2016, as amended. The financial information as of September 30, 2016 and for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 is unaudited. The year-end condensed balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. In the opinion of the Company’s management, all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments or accruals, considered necessary for a fair statement of the results of these interim periods have been included. The results of the Company’s operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any other interim period or for a full fiscal year.
 
The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries: Sucampo AG (SAG) based in Zug, Switzerland, through which the Company conducts certain of its worldwide and European operations; Sucampo Pharma, LLC (SPL) based in Osaka, Japan, through which the Company conducts its Asian operations; R-Tech Ueno, Ltd., based in Tokyo, Japan, through which the Company conducts manufacturing and certain development operations; Sucampo Pharma Americas LLC (SPA), based in Rockville, Maryland, through which the Company conducts its North American operations; and Sucampo Pharma Europe, Ltd. (SPE), based in Oxford, United Kingdom. All inter-company balances and transactions have been eliminated.
 
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.