Strategy

UCB has a clear long-term strategy to realise its vision. Since 2004, when the company was a diversified pharmaceuticals, chemicals and films conglomerate, we have successfully
delivered the first three stages of this five-step strategy and are now poised to enter the ‘growth’ phase..

Transformation (completed in 2005)

The transformation of UCB into a biopharmaceutical company
with a development portfolio of small- and large-molecule drugs
was achieved through the acquisition in 2004 of Celltech, the
leading British biotech company, and the divestment of noncore
businesses in 2005. By the end of 2005, UCB had a globally
networked research organisation capable of capturing the
combined potential of biology and chemistry.

Scale (completed in 2006)

The acquisition of Schwarz Pharma in 2006 enriched the
company’s late-stage pipeline, enhancing the company’s short- to mid-term commercial potential.

Execution (completed in 2009)

During this phase we prepared for the growth stage of our
strategy by making significant investments and changing the shape of our organisation.

• Investments were made in R&D to build and progress our new product pipeline and in launching new products. Three major products were developed, approved and launched: Cimzia®, Vimpat® and Neupro®.
• Increased focus and cost containment mitigated the loss of patents and exclusivity protecting Keppra® and Zyrtec® around the world.
• Country markets were also prioritised.
• In addition, our SHAPE programme re-allocated resources and focused activities on the core therapeutic areas for UCB of the central nervous system (CNS) and immunology, and simplified the organisation, improving our agility, competitiveness and profitability.

Growth

From 2010, UCB expects its new products to lay the foundation
for a return to growth. This, in turn, will enable increased
investment in the research and development of new products.

Breakthrough

Using our expertise in biology and chemistry, we are working on long-term research projects that could transform how severe
diseases are treated. These initiatives include four pre-clinical
projects that are using our proprietary A2Hit™ technology to
combine the convenience of small orally available molecules with the efficacy and precision-targeting of large molecules.