Prestigious award for UCB’s top finance officer

UCB’s Chief Financial Officer, Detlef Thielgen, has been named CFO of the Year by Trends Tendance, a leading business magazine. This is welcome recognition for a team which plays a vital role in UCB’s success.

From the left to the right: Laurent Schots, Detlef Thielgen, France Nivelle

Detlef, who began his career in banking, has been in his current role for almost a decade. During this time, he has led a finance team that has overseen a period of progress and growth at UCB.

This skilled and motivated group even scaled the dreaded ‘patent cliff’ – a period when patent protection expires on leading products, prompting an abrupt loss of revenue – which has challenged many companies in our industry.

Looking back on this successful but nonetheless hectic period, Detlef borrows a sporting analogy to explain his team’s performance. “If you want the best team and the best players, you must ensure that you make it worthwhile for them to play for you,” he told Trends Tendance in an interview.

Finance is more than just a numbers game. Our finance team is embracing new technologies in their field such as advanced data analysis and cyber security to deliver crucial insights. Curiosity and a willingness to learn are as a central to UCB’s finance operations as they are to our drug development labs.

Our talented group of finance experts has been a constant, steadying influence in the past and promises to be a dynamic part of our future.

For people like Detlef, UCB’s research on the next generation of therapies is of professional and personal interest. As he said in a recent interview, UCB’s efforts to develop an innovative new therapy for osteoporosis are inspirational as it has the power to change lives.

“My mother has osteoporosis. Her hips have broken and she has already broken two vertebrae. If our product reaches the market it could potentially help her greatly. So we do our job in finance because it plays a role in improving people’s lives.”