Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Receives Orphan Designation from EU for Unoprostone Isopropyl for Treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Sucampo”)

, a global biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has received orphan drug designation in the European Union for unoprostone isopropyl for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa (RP). RP is a genetic disease characterized by progressive, irreversible vision loss and decreasing visual acuity, and there are no drugs or therapeutic procedures currently approved for the treatment of RP today. To qualify for orphan designation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), a medicine must be intended for the treatment, prevention or diagnosis of a disease that is life-threatening or chronically debilitating; the prevalence of the condition in the EU must not be more than 5 in 10,000; and no satisfactory method