Abstract
On 25th September 2006, UCB, a global biopharmaceutical company, confirmed its
intention to make a friendly cash and share offer for all the issued and to be
issued shares in Schwarz Pharma. The enlarged company would be called UCB and
continue to be based at UCB' s current headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. This
new strategic analysis report provides a complete and critical review of the
company and includes unique and independent assessments and forecasts of key
products.
UCB is a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the research,
development and commercialisation of innovative pharmaceutical and
biotechnology products in the fields of central nervous system disorders,
allergy/respiratory diseases, immune and inflammatory disorders and oncology.
Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, it has over 8,500 employees worldwide. The
Group has production and packaging facilities in Belgium, Switzerland, the US,
Japan, Germany, India, Italy, Spain and South Korea (to be closed) and sells
in more than 40 countries on all continents. During 2005, the Group disposed
of the Surface Specialties business segment and transformed itself into a pure
biopharmaceutical company.
On 25th September 2006, UCB confirmed its intention to make a friendly cash
and share offer for all the issued and to be issued shares in Schwarz Pharma.
The companies' Boards have agreed the terms of an offer, which Schwarz
Pharma' s Supervisory and Executive Boards unanimously intend to recommend. The
enlarged company would be called UCB and continue to be based at UCB' s current
headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. It is anticipated that the combination of
UCB and Schwarz Pharma would build the next-generation biopharmaceutical
leader, with strong combined US and EU commercial power and pro-forma 2005
revenues of EUR 3.3 billion.
Current Growth Drivers
One of UCB' s biggest-selling products, Keppra, achieved sales growth of 34 per
cent in 2005, to reach revenues of EUR 560 million. UCB is working to enhance
the life cycle for Keppra. To this end, line extensions have been filed for
its use in primary generalised myoclonic seizures, and as an intravenous
solution formulation as a monotherapy for primary generalised seizures. Phase
III trials are also under way in Japan for generalised tonic-clonic seizures
and are planned for epilepsy in children aged one month to six years. Keppra
is also in Phase II trials for other indications such as migraine or bipolar
disorders are in the phase of exploratory clinical studies.
Key Late-Stage Products
Following Cimzia' s excellent Phase III results in Crohn' s disease, a BLA was
submitted to the FDA on 1st March 2006 and an MAA to the EMEA in April 2006.
Approval is expected in the first half of 2007 and launch is targeted to
follow shortly afterwards. It is also undergoing Phase III trials for
rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Phase II trials for psoriasis.
UCB has licensed exclusive worldwide rights to develop, market and sell
epratuzumab for all autoimmune disease indications, from Immunomedics. The
most advanced programme is for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus
(SLE), for which it has been granted FDA fast track designation. UCB
voluntarily suspended dosing in the Phase III SLE trials in mid-2006, however,
following a routine quality assurance audit of Immunomedics' facilities. The
FDA placed epratuzumab on clinical hold, while Immunomedic and UCB address its
concerns, so that patients who have already benefited from epratuzumab are
able to resume treatment as soon as possible.
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