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LIFESCIENCELEADER.COM MARCH 2015 35 to secure some of the basic fundamen- tals in our financials." (See "Sucampo's Industry Brain Trust" on page 36.) As Sucampo gathered management expertise, it dealt with IP and generic chal- lenges to Amitiza by resolving lawsuits with Par and commercial partner Takeda — although, as partners, Sucampo and Takeda filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Dr. Reddy's late in 2014. Having passed one major IP hurdle, Sucampo entered 2015 with good revenue growth from Amitiza and a new deal in which Takeda will market the product globally. Sucampo had thus exited "dilutive" activities, offloading its commercial work in sales and marketing through the part- nerships, and focused on strengthening its pipeline. Greenleaf says his company also found ways to increase its margins on Amitiza not only through better financial management, but also through some key manufacturing and supply agreements for a lower cost of goods. With a more-efficient and less-trou- blesome commercial setup in place, he says the company could then put more attention back into its drug-development function. "We wanted to ensure our development programs are not just carried forward, but also pressure-tested — with clear deliverables communicated externally in a very transparent way and for which we hold ourselves accountable. We will buffer, augment, and build up the pipe- line with new science, bringing in a diver- sified approach to different therapeutic areas. Then, as our revenues grow and the pipeline becomes richer, hopefully inves- tors can see the benefit of our efforts, the company's market cap will increase, and we can do even more transformative deals." FROM COMPETITION TO COLLABORATION A basic lesson in partnership lies beneath Sucampo's resolution of litigation filed by the company's former management against partner Takeda. In Greenleaf's view, ending the conflict over Takeda's commercial efforts for Amitiza was essential. "Partnerships are pervasive in the phar- ma/biotech space; we live and die by our partnerships, and when you sign up with a partner, you make a long-term commit- ment. The goal should always be to make your partnerships work. In the rare occa- sion one is not working — and during the 20-plus years I've been in the industry, I've not yet experienced it — you end up sitting across the table from lawyers. It's better to try to drive your partnerships through alignment, by working together toward common goals." Greenleaf put the Takeda alliance at the top of his agenda for his first 30 days in office. "I told the team that Takeda was critical to our current and future success, and we're going to make the relationship work." By the end of the first two weeks, he was on a plane to Japan to meet with The Perfect Balance Between Timing, Quality and Value Accelerate your program from DNA to Commercialization United States +1 425 485 1900 Europe +45 7020 9470 www.cmcbiologics.com