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UCB’s Board of Directors appoints Jonathan Peacock as new Chair

Brussels (Belgium), 9 March 2023 – 7.00 am CET (CET) – UCB SA/NV announces the following changes to its Board of Directors.

During its meeting on March 8, 2023 UCB’s Board of Directors elected Jonathan Peacock, currently Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at UCB, as Chair of UCB's Board of Directors with effect as of March 9, 2023. Fiona du Monceau, currently ad interim Chair of the Board, will revert to her role as Vice Chair of the Board. Ad interim, Jonathan Peacock will also keep his role as Chair of the Audit Committee at UCB. 

Jean-Christophe Tellier, UCB's CEO said: “Jonathan Peacock is a highly respected and appreciated member of the Board and Chair of its Audit Committee since 2021, bringing a wealth of expertise and strategic leadership. We are delighted to see Jonathan, who always puts the patient’s perspective first, take on the role as Chair of the Board of UCB. Special thank you to Fiona du Monceau who acted as ad interim Chair during year-end closing on top of her duties.”

I am thrilled to take on this unique opportunity and continue to work with such inspiring and talented people across the Board and UCB. The past years as Chair of the Audit Committee have provided me in-depth knowledge of the company, its culture and strategy. I look forward to now also bringing my expertise and leadership to the role of Chairman of UCB and accompanying UCB on the exciting journey it has ahead, striving to help people to live the best life they can.”  said Jonathan Peacock.

Jonathan Peacock joined the Board of UCB in 2021 as an Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of Avantor Inc  and is a member of the Nominating and Governance Committee. He also serves on the Board of 2 private companies, Bluesphere Bio, as Chairman, and Real Chemistry. 

From 2014 to May 2021, Mr. Peacock served as the Chairman of Bellerophon Therapeutics, Inc. a clinical stage biotherapeutics company, and was its CEO from 2014 to 2016. He also served as Chairman of Arix Bioscience plc from 2016-2020 and as Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee of Kite Pharma from 2014-17 and Member of the Board of Genmab A/S until November 2021. Mr. Peacock held Global CFO roles at Amgen and Novartis Pharma and leadership roles in Strategy and Corporate Finance as a partner at McKinsey and Price Waterhouse. He has experience in emerging Biotechnology, big Pharma and Corporate Finance in Europe, the US and Asia. He also has extensive IPO and fund-raising experience on NASDAQ, NYSE and LSE. 

More detailed bios of Jonathan Peacock and Fiona du Monceau are available on ucb.com: UCB Governance | UCB


For further information, contact UCB: 
Investor Relations
Antje Witte
T +32.2.559.94.14 
email antje.witte@ucb.com 

Corporate Communications
Laurent Schots 
T +32.2.559.92.64 
email laurent.schots@ucb.com

About UCB 
UCB, Brussels, Belgium (www.ucb.com) is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines and solutions to transform the lives of people living with severe diseases of the immune system or of the central nervous system. With approximately 8,700 people in approximately 40 countries, the company generated revenue of €5.5 billion in 2022. UCB is listed on Euronext Brussels (symbol: UCB). Follow us on Twitter: @UCB_news.

Forward looking statements 
This press release may contain forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements containing the words “believes”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “intends”, “plans”, “seeks”, “estimates”, “may”, “will”, “continue” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on current plans, estimates and beliefs of management. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including estimates of revenues, operating margins, capital expenditures, cash, other financial information, expected legal, arbitration, political, regulatory or clinical results or practices and other such estimates and results. By their nature, such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions which might cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of UCB, or industry results, to differ materially from those that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Important factors that could result in such differences include: the global spread and impact of COVID-19, changes in general economic, business and competitive conditions, the inability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals or to obtain them on acceptable terms or within expected timing, costs associated with research and development, changes in the prospects for products in the pipeline or under development by UCB, effects of future judicial decisions or governmental investigations, safety, quality, data integrity or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, product liability claims, challenges to patent protection for products or product candidates, competition from other products including biosimilars, changes in laws or regulations, exchange rate fluctuations, changes or uncertainties in tax laws or the administration of such laws, and hiring and retention of its employees. There is no guarantee that new product candidates will be discovered or identified in the pipeline, will progress to product approval or that new indications for existing products will be developed and approved. Movement from concept to commercial product is uncertain; preclinical results do not guarantee safety and efficacy of product candidates in humans. So far, the complexity of the human body cannot be reproduced in computer models, cell culture systems or animal models. The length of the timing to complete clinical trials and to get regulatory approval for product marketing has varied in the past and UCB expects similar unpredictability going forward. Products or potential products, which are the subject of partnerships, joint ventures or licensing collaborations may be subject to differences disputes between the partners or may prove to be not as safe, effective or commercially successful as UCB may have believed at the start of such partnership. UCB’s efforts to acquire other products or companies and to integrate the operations of such acquired companies may not be as successful as UCB may have believed at the moment of acquisition. Also, UCB or others could discover safety, side effects or manufacturing problems with its products and/or devices after they are marketed. The discovery of significant problems with a product similar to one of UCB’s products that implicate an entire class of products may have a material adverse effect on sales of the entire class of affected products. Moreover, sales may be impacted by international and domestic trends toward managed care and health care cost containment, including pricing pressure, political and public scrutiny, customer and prescriber patterns or practices, and the reimbursement policies imposed by third-party payers as well as legislation affecting biopharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement activities and outcomes. Finally, a breakdown, cyberattack or information security breach could compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availability of UCB’s data and systems. 
Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on any of such forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labelling in any market, or at any particular time, nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be or will continue to be commercially successful in the future.
UCB is providing this information, including forward-looking statements, only as of the date of this press release and it does not reflect any potential impact from the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, unless indicated otherwise. UCB is following the worldwide developments diligently to assess the financial significance of this pandemic to UCB. UCB expressly disclaims any duty to update any information contained in this press release, either to confirm the actual results or to report or reflect any change in its forward-looking statements with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, unless such statement is required pursuant to applicable laws and regulations. 
Additionally, information contained in this document shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation or sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. 

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