Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCMP) is buying out the single-asset Vtesse for $200 million up front. [In doing so] Sucampo is picking up a late-stage asset, VTS-270, now in a global pivotal trial, with a readout expected in mid-2018. Sucampo is confidently projecting a market launch in 2019.

Written by John Carroll

The buyout is a crucial next step for Sucampo...[whose] lead drug, cobiprostone, flunked back-to-back mid-stage studies last year, spurring the company to give up on the drug after the flops shred its stock price. The company started today with a market cap of $477 million.

...VTS-270, attacks a disease (Niemann-Pick Disease Type C1) characterized by a malfunction of lipid transport inside cells, leading to an accumulation of lipids that can eventually be fatal...

Said Peter Greenleaf, CEO of Sucampo:

“(W)e believe that this acquisition not only has the potential to make an important difference in the lives of patients, their families, and the dedicated physicians who care for them, but also to create value for shareholders. We welcome the employees of Vtesse to our team and look forward to accelerating the global development of VTS-270 in the hopes of bringing this novel treatment to patients afflicted by Niemann-Pick Disease Type C1 in the U.S. and around the globe.”