Prostones, A Proprietary Fatty Acid that Fuels Sucampo's Deep Product Pipeline

Prostones are a class of compounds derived from functional fatty acids that occur naturally in the human body. The therapeutic potential of prostones was first identified by Sucampo’s co-founder, Dr. Ueno.

Fatty acids serve as fuel for energy production in cells in many organisms and are intermediates in the synthesis of other important chemical compounds.

To date, two prostone products have received marketing approval: AMITIZA® for the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation in adults and RESCULA® (unoprostone isopropyl) for the treatment of glaucoma.* RESCULA, which was developed by R-Tech Ueno, Ltd. under the leadership of Drs. Ueno and Kuno, was the first commercially available prostone drug. RESCULA was first sold in Japan beginning in 1994 and is currently marketed in more than 40 countries worldwide.

Most prostones work as selective ion channel activators, which means that it promotes the movement of specific ions into or out of cells. Ions are charged particles such as sodium, potassium, calcium and chloride. Because ions cannot move freely across cell membranes, they must enter or exit a cell through an ion channel.

Some Potential Beneficial Effects of Prostones include:

• Promotion of Fluid Secretion. Activating the movement of specific ions into and out of cells can promote the secretion of fluid into neighboring areas.
• Organ Protection and Restoration. Disruption of the barrier function in human cells can trigger cell damage by increasing the permeability of cells and tissue, thereby diminishing the body’s first line of defense. The ClC-2 channel plays an important role in the restoration of tight junction complexes and in the recovery of barrier function in the body.
• Localized Activity. Because most prostones act through contact with cells, their pharmacological activity is localized where the compound is physically present in its active form. Because some prostones metabolize quickly to an inactive form, their effects are not spread to other parts of the body, allowing some prostones to be targeted to specific types of cells in specific organs.

*RESCULA is not a Sucampo product.