Core medicines driving growth in 2017

UCB is off to a good start in 2017, driven by growth of our main products which remain at the heart of our story.

These main medicines have gone from strength to strength, reaching more patients than ever before, and our interim report for the first quarter of 2017 confirms this trend. Our main products now represent 76% of the € 1.12 billion total revenues for the first three months of this year.

Revenue increased by 15% in the first quarter of 2017 while growth of our main products was up by 20% to € 853 million. These products are in their prime and there are other positive stories emerging from the report too. We are working with our partner to prepare to bring an osteoporosis medicine to market, while we continue to progress our promising pipeline of potential new products.

Another example from our development teams: For Japan, UCB is running a phase 3 study to evaluate the use of one of our products for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. And we have filled one of our medicines for the use for children (above 4 years) living with epilepsy in the U.S.

In the meantime, we confirm our financial outlook for the year: UCB expects 2017 revenue to reach € 4.25 - 4.35 billion; recurring EBITDA should increase to € 1.15 – 1.20 billion. Core earnings per share are expected in the range of € 3.70 – 4.00 based on an expected average of 188 million shares outstanding.

For more information on this or related matters, don’t hesitate to contact me.