Sucampo (SCMP) Remains Focused On Amitza Label Expansion
Zacks Investment Research | Jul 05, 2017 05:22AM ET
We issued an updated report on Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCMP) on July 4.
Rockville, MD-based Sucampo Pharmaceuticals is a global biopharmaceutical company which currently has one marketed product, Amitiza, in its portfolio. Amitiza is approved for chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) in adults, irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) among adult women and opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in patients with chronic non-cancer pain.
Sucampo has a license, commercialization and supply agreement with Mylan (NASDAQ:MYL) for marketing Amitiza in Japan, where it is approved for chronic constipation (CC), except constipation caused by organic diseases. Japanese pharma company Takeda, which holds global marketing rights for Amitiza outside Japan and China, continues to work on launching Amitiza in new markets. The company’s collaborations with firms like Takeda and Mylan for the commercialization of Amitiza is a big positive.
A look at Sucampo’s share price movement reveals that the company has underperformed the Zacks classified Medical Drugs industry year to date. The stock is down 21.1% against the industry’s gain of 6.2%.
Sucampo is working on expanding Amitiza’s label. Sucampo is developing the sprinkle formulation of Amitiza in adults and pediatric patients.The company plans to make regulatory filings for both adult and pediatric patients in the U.S. in the second half of 2017. This will further boost the revenues of the company once approved.
This global pharmaceutical company is also focusing on acquisitions. The company’s acquisition of Japanese company, R-Tech added Rescula to Sucampo’s marketed drug list. Through this acquisition, Sucampo boosted its pipeline across diverse therapeutic areas like gastroenterology, ophthalmology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, and oncology.
Meanwhile, with the acquisition of Vtesse in Apr 2017, Sucampo added a late stage program in Niemann-Pick Disease type C1 to its pipeline. Moreover, Sucampo entered into an option and collaboration agreement with Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals in Jan 2016, whereby it gained the sole option to acquire an exclusive license to commercialize the late stage CPP-1X/sulindac combination product in North America for the treatment of FAP in a phase III study. The study is expected to be complete in 2018 (potential approval in 2019).
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Nevertheless, Sucampo’s dependence on Amitiza for growth is concerning. Also, some companies are trying to market and sell generic version of Amitiza. Any decline in Amitiza's sales will adversely impact the top-line.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Sucampo currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in health care sector include Enzo Biochem, Inc. (NYSE:ENZ) and Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) . While Enzo Biochem sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Sanofi holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see .
Enzo Biochem’s loss per share estimates narrowed from 12 cents to 7 cents for 2017 and from 11 cents to 3 cents for 2018 over the last 30 days. The company delivered positive earnings surprises in all the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 55.83%. The share price of the company has increased 61.1% year to date.
Sanofi’s earnings per share estimates increased from $3.08 to $3.18 for 2017 and from $3.26 to $3.30 for 2018 over last 30 days. The company pulled off positive earnings surprises in three of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 5.10%. The share price of the company has increased 18.2% year to date.
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