UCB reports 7% growth in 2012 due to key medicines

Hannah Blake

pharmaphorum

UCB has announced that its core medicines were key to the company’s growth in 2012. Revenue increased by 7% to €462 million, driven by Cimzia® (certolizumab pegol), Vimpat® (lacosamide) and Neupro® (rotigotine). Together, these three products had a combined net sales total of €934 million.

2012 was an important year for UCB, as the company reached a number of key milestones for the company in the UK. It also launched a series of innovative new partnerships with the European Union, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations and the University of Oxford, to name a few.

Some of the company’s R&amp,D highlights include the approval of Cimzia and Neupro in Japan, the file for PsA and axSpA for Cimzia in the US and the EU and the start of phase 3 clinical trials for anti-epileptic drug, Vimpat, in Asia.

"In 2012 we completed UCB’s transformation into a patient-centric biopharmaceutical company. We now expect company growth for many years, driven by UCB core medicines, emerging markets and new breakthrough solutions for patients. During 2012, UCB reached the ‘crossover point’ where the net sales of our new core medicines Cimzia®, Vimpat® and Neupro® achieved combined net sales of EUR 934 million, up 49%, and exceeding those of Keppra®, UCB’s leading medicine for many years."

Roch Doliveux, Chief Executive Officer of UCB.

For 2013, UCB has given its financial expectations: for revenue, the company believes it will grow by a low-single-digit percentage, excluding exchange rate impacts. It also expects its corresponding core earnings per share to be in the range of €1.90 - €2.05.