Sucampo Pharma Europe was established in 2002 to lead research and development in Europe. Its principal offices are located on Cannon Street, the heart of London's business district, with EMEA (The European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products) just 10 kilometers away.

Sucampo Group was founded by Ryuji Ueno MD, PhD, PhD. and Sachiko Kuno, PhD. with the goal of creating global pharmaceutical company based on proprietary technologies discovered by Dr. Ueno and his colleagues. Dr. Ueno is a pharmaceutical thought leader who discovered a new class of pharmaceutical agents with the ability to affect fluid regulation in targeted cells.

Dr. Ueno, Dr. Kuno and their research team spent the 1980s aggressively identifying and developing fatty acid compounds derived from Dr. Ueno's discovery, leading to 650 international patents and the Sucampo Group's first product, Rescula®.

In 1994, Rescula® entered the Japanese market as the first functional fatty acid indicated for treating glaucoma and ocular-hypertension. With licensing partners Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Novartis AG, Rescula® eye drops are sold in 45 countries and have treated more than 500,000 patients over last 8 years.

Rescula's success led Dr. Ueno and Dr. Kuno to found the Sucampo Group, an affiliation of companies in the United States, Asia and Europe.

As a newest addition to the Sucampo Group, Sucampo Pharma Europe began its full operation in Summer 2003 and plans to start several clinical trials in 2004.