UCB is a
multinationalA multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
biopharmaceuticalBiopharmaceuticals are medical drugs produced using biotechnology. They include proteins , nucleic acids and living microorganisms like virus and bacteria where the virulence of viruses and bacteria is reduced by the process of attenuation, they can be used for therapeutic or in vivo diagnostic...
manufacturing company headquartered in
BrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium.
History
UCB was founded on 18 January 1928 by
Emmanuel JanssenEmmanuel Janssen was a Belgian businessman, who founded the Union Chimique Belge in Brussels, Belgium, in 1928. UCB was one of the first companies in the world to distill ammonia from coal.-References:...
, a Belgian businessman. Initially focused on industrial chemicals ( it was one of the first companies to distill amonia from coal ), the company also included a small pharmaceutical division based around
Meurice Laboratories.
In the early 1950s, UCB set up a research centre where new medicines such as
Atarax (
hydroxyzineHydroxyzine is a first-generation antihistamine of the diphenylmethane and piperazine classes. It was first synthesized by Union Chimique Belge in 1956 and was marketed by Pfizer in the United States later the same year, and is still in widespread use today....
) were developed. Successful sales enabled the pharmaceutical division to expand, and led to the discovery of another important compound, called
piracetamPiracetam is a nootropic drug. Piracetam's chemical name is 2-oxo-1-pyrrolidine acetamide; it shares the same 2-oxo-pyrrolidone base structure with 2-oxo-pyrrolidine carboxylic acid . Piracetam is a cyclic derivative of GABA. It is one of the group of racetams...
. This was marketed in the 1970s as
Nootropil and used to treat memory and
balance problemsA balance disorder is a disturbance that causes an individual to feel unsteady, for example when standing or walking. It may be accompanied by feelings of giddiness or wooziness, or having a sensation of movement, spinning, or floating...
. It remains one of UCB's key products. At this time, UCB was a company focusing on three core areas: pharmaceuticals, chemicals and
filmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s.
The success of
Nootropil made it possible for UCB to build a modern pharmaceutical site in
Braine-l'AlleudBraine-l'Alleud is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant, about 20 kilometers south of Brussels. The Braine-l'Alleud municipality includes the former municipalities of Braine-l'Alleud proper, Ophain-Bois-Seigneur-Isaac, and Lillois-Witterzée. It also includes...
, south of Brussels. There, UCB developed
Zyrtec (
cetirizineCetirizine , a second-generation antihistamine, is a major metabolite of hydroxyzine, and a racemic selective H1 receptor inverse agonist used in the treatment of allergies, hay fever, angioedema, and urticaria.-Availability:...
), a blockbuster
antihistamineAn H1 antagonist is a histamine antagonist of the H1 receptor that serves to reduce or eliminate effects mediated by histamine, an endogenous chemical mediator released during allergic reactions...
. Other important products have followed including
Keppra (
levetiracetam),
Xyzal (
levocetirizineLevocetirizine is a third-generation non-sedative antihistamine, developed from the second-generation antihistamine cetirizine. Chemically, levocetirizine is the active enantiomer of cetirizine. It is the L-enantiomer of the cetirizine racemate. Levocetirizine works by blocking histamine receptors...
), and
Cimzia (
certolizumab pegolCertolizumab pegol is a therapeutic monoclonal antibody produced by UCB for the treatment of Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis.-Method of action:...
).
At the end of 2002, the chemicals and films divisions were merged and UCB added the
resinResin in the most specific use of the term is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly coniferous trees. Resins are valued for their chemical properties and associated uses, such as the production of varnishes, adhesives, and food glazing agents; as an important source of raw materials...
s,
additiveAdditive may refer to:* Additive function, a function that preserves the addition operation* Additive inverse, an arithmetic concept* Additive category, a preadditive category with finite biproducts...
s and
adhesiveAn adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...
s activities of Solutia, to form the surface specialties division. The films part has since been sold to Innovia Films in September 2004. The chemicals division, Methylamines and Derivatives was spun off and later sold to form the company Taminco.
In May 2004, UCB acquired the British biotechnology company
CelltechCelltech Group plc was a leading British-based biotechnology business based in Slough. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
, followed in March 2005 by the sale of the surface specialties business to
Cytec IndustriesCytec Industries Incorporated, based in Woodland Park is a speciality chemicals and materials technology company with pro-forma sales in 2004, including the Surface Specialties acquisition, of approximately $3.0 billion. Cytec is a result of its spin-off from American Cyanamid Company...
. By divesting all of its non-pharmaceutical activities, and acquiring Celltech, UCB transformed itself into a global biopharmaceutical company.
In 2006, UCB started the purchase of the German pharmaceutical company
Schwarz for €4.4
billion1,000,000,000 is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001.In scientific notation, it is written as 109....
. , UCB holds approximately 87% of Schwarz's
outstanding sharesShares outstanding are common shares that have been authorized, issued, and purchased by investors. They have voting rights and represent ownership in the corporation by the person or institution that holds the shares. They should be distinguished from treasury shares, which is common stock held by...
. The purchase of Schwarz enabled UCB to introduce two new drugs against CNS disorders:
Neupro (
rotigotineRotigotine is a non-ergoline dopamine agonist indicated for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and restless legs syndrome in Europe and the United States...
), a
transdermal patchA transdermal patch is a medicated adhesive patch that is placed on the skin to deliver a specific dose of medication through the skin and into the bloodstream. Often, this promotes healing to an injured area of the body. An advantage of a transdermal drug delivery route over other types of...
for treatment of
Parkinson's diseaseParkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
and
Vimpat (
lacosamideLacosamide is a medication developed by UCB for the adjunctive treatment of partial-onset seizures and diabetic neuropathic pain marketed under the trade name Vimpat....
), a new
anticonvulsantThe anticonvulsants are a diverse group of pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of epileptic seizures. Anticonvulsants are also increasingly being used in the treatment of bipolar disorder, since many seem to act as mood stabilizers, and in the treatment of neuropathic pain. The goal of an...
. Another new drug of the Schwarz
portfolioPortfolio is a financial term denoting a collection of investments held by an investment company, hedge fund, financial institution or individual.-Definition:The term portfolio refers to any collection of financial assets such as stocks, bonds and cash...
,
Toviaz (
fesoterodineFesoterodine is an antimuscarinic drug developed by Schwarz Pharma AG to treat overactive bladder syndrome . It was approved by the European Medicines Agency in April 2007 and was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration on October 31, 2008.Fesoterodine is a prodrug...
), a compound to treat
overactive bladderOveractive bladder is a urological condition defined by a set of symptoms: urgency, with or without urge incontinence, usually with frequency and nocturia. Frequency is usually defined as urinating more than 8 times a day. The International Continence Society is responsible for this definition...
, was licensed to
PfizerPfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States...
in 2006.
Operations
The Company's efforts are focussed on treatments for severe diseases treated by specialists, particularly in the fields of
central nervous systemThe central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that integrates the information that it receives from, and coordinates the activity of, all parts of the bodies of bilaterian animals—that is, all multicellular animals except sponges and radially symmetric animals such as jellyfish...
(CNS) disorders (including
epilepsyEpilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
),
inflammatoryInflammation is part of the complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. Inflammation is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process...
disorders (including
allergyAn Allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. Allergic reactions occur when a person's immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment. A substance that causes a reaction is called an allergen. These reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid...
), and
oncologyOncology is a branch of medicine that deals with cancer...
.