BETHESDA, Md. and WASHINGTON, March 4, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Sucampo) (Nasdaq:SCMP) and the National Cherry Blossom Festival (Festival) today announced their ongoing partnership to support the historic celebration of Japan's gift of cherry trees. Built on a passion for science and dedicated to supporting good health, Sucampo is co-sponsoring with the Festival this year's "Step Into Spring" fitness program. This program features free exercise and wellness classes over the course of the three weeks during the Festival, encouraging a healthy lifestyle for all participants.
"I am pleased to be continuing Sucampo's legacy of supporting the National Cherry Blossom Festival," said Peter Greenleaf, Sucampo's Chief Executive Officer. "We are excited that this year's Festival includes a focus on health and wellness, and we look forward to launching the 'Step into Spring' program and bringing messages about the importance of healthy living to Festival participants."
Expanding from successes in Japan by its founders Ryuji Ueno, M.D, Ph.D., Ph.D., and Sachiko Kuno, Ph.D., Sucampo was founded in 1996 to pursue biopharmaceutical research and development in the United States. This is the third year that Sucampo supports the Festival as a Host sponsor. Each year, the Festival focuses on cultural collaboration and supporting the arts, culture and the environment.
The 2014 Festival commemorates the 102nd anniversary of the gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Tokyo to Washington, DC. More than 1.5 million people visit Washington, DC each year to admire the blossoming trees and participate in diverse and creative programming that make up the nation's most famous springtime celebration. This year's festivities will take place Thursday, March 20, through Sunday, April 13. For more information, visit nationalcherryblossomfestival.org.
About the National Cherry Blossom Festival
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is the nation's greatest springtime celebration. The 2014 Festival, March 20 – April 13, includes three spectacular weeks and four weekends of events featuring diverse and creative programming promoting traditional and contemporary arts and culture, natural beauty, and community spirit. The 2014 Festival commemorates the 102nd anniversary of the gift of the cherry blossom trees and the enduring friendship between the United States and Japan.
About Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of drugs based on ion channel activators knows as prostones. Discovered by the company's scientific co-founder, Dr. Ryuji Ueno, prostones are naturally occurring fatty acid metabolites with unique physiological activities. Sucampo has two marketed products – AMITIZA® and RESCULA® – and a pipeline of prostone-based product candidates in clinical development. A global company, Sucampo is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, and has operations in Japan, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. For more information, please visit www.sucampo.com.
The Sucampo logo and the tagline, The Science of Innovation, are registered trademarks of Sucampo AG. AMITIZA is a registered trademark of Sucampo AG. RESCULA is a registered trademark of R-Tech Ueno, Ltd, and has been licensed to Sucampo AG.
Sucampo Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. The forward-looking statements may include statements regarding product development, product potential, future financial and operating results, and other statements that are not historical facts. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation; Sucampo's ability to accurately predict future market conditions; dependence on the effectiveness of Sucampo's patents and other protections for innovative products; the risk of new and changing regulation and health policies in the U.S. and internationally and the exposure to litigation and/or regulatory actions. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual results may differ materially from those projected. Sucampo undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Forward-looking statements in this presentation should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Sucampo's business, particularly those mentioned in the risk factors and cautionary statements in Sucampo's most recent Form 8-K and 10-K, which Sucampo incorporates by reference.
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