In April, Sugen (S. San Francisco, CA) established a European subsidiary, Sugen Europe (Schaffhausen, Switzerland), which aims to partner with several small, local pharmaceutical firms in order to distribute its portfolio of cancer products across the continent. According to CEO Stephen Evans-Freke, this strategy will give Sugen Europe a greater share of the European oncology market than could be achieved via one major international pharmaceutical firm. He notes that the three largest European oncology distributors—AstraZeneca (London), Bristol Myers Squibb (New York), and Pharmacia & Upjohn (San Diego, CA)—each hold only 15% of the market; Evans-Freke hopes to beat this. Sugen Europe has already signed a deal with Esteve (Barcelona)—which will market, promote, and distribute throughout Spain and Portugal—and is currently in negotiations with Dompé (Rome) for Italian distribution. Once a distribution network is set up, Evans-Freke plans to license oncology products from US companies and sell them through the network. "The best fishing grounds will be licensing other products," he says.