2020 Revenues ($USD) : $6,095,580,000 2020 Revenues (foreign currencies) : €5,347,000,000 2020 R&D spend : $1,767,718,200 2020 Number of Employees : 8,371 Fiscal Year End : 12/31/2020 Key People : Jean-Christophe Tellier, CEO
Founded nearly a century ago, UCB saw breakthrough successes in the 1980s and '90s with the creation of the antihistamine Zyrtec and the seizure treatment Keppra. By the 21st century, UCB was transforming into a pure biopharma company focusing on neurology and immunology disorders. The company continued to shop for acquisitions during the COVID-19 pandemic. After closing its $2.3 billion purchase of Ra Pharma and its potential myasthenia gravis treatment zilucoplan in April 2020, UCB acquired Engage Therapeutics and its investigational epileptic seizure treatment Staccato Alprazolam for $125 million in June 2020. UCB in November 2020 bought gene therapy Handl Therapeutics. Late last year, it also acquired a new campus in Windlesham, Surrey to bolster its R&D in the U.K. –CN