Innovating in Epilepsy

In recent years, epilepsy research has evolved from focusing solely on symptomatic control of seizures to investigating the underlying pathologies, aiming to develop disease-modifying and ultimately curative therapies.

At UCB, we understand the importance of staying at the forefront of innovation, and prioritizing research and development within the dynamic category of epilepsy - principles that have built our 30-year heritage in this area. To ensure we are a part of this evolution, we need to advance and progress. Our people-first approach focuses on three areas of development:  

1. Driving innovation in science  
2. Partnering with patients to advance the ecosystem  
3. Elevating the standard of care for all people living with epilepsies  

We are entering a rapid period of disruption where we need to address multiple unmet needs of specific patient populations through evolving modalities, targets, and care delivery. To achieve this, we need to adopt new approaches that employ emerging technologies and require capabilities beyond anything currently present in the market.  

We are focused on the development of an extensive future epilepsy portfolio, made up of targeted, precision medicines, focusing on the entire spectrum of epilepsies. As well as continually improving the outcomes of the symptomatic approaches, available to patients today. 

Advancing symptomatic care  

Our research focuses on developing a better understanding of the prevention of seizures and the underlying mechanisms of the most challenging seizure disorders. We are advancing distinct solutions across many different epilepsies for specific patient populations, and have several early discovery phase research projects, involving both small molecules and gene therapies, that are currently active.  

Our goal is to disrupt this space by advancing solutions across many different domains and dimensions of the epilepsies. This starts with our current products where we continue to research their impact on non-seizure outcomes relating to cognition, behavior, emotional development, and sleep architecture; neurodevelopment delays; corollary links to other neurodegenerative diseases; Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) and all-cause mortality. 

Disease modification 

Teams from across UCB are envisioning a next generation of therapies that will take epilepsy care beyond symptomatic treatments by targeting the underlying mechanisms that lead to both seizure and non-seizure effects of the diseases and syndromes we aim to treat and opening the door to disease modifying and curative solutions. Working together, we are exploring fundamental disease etiologies across the epilepsies, uncovering root causes of monogenic epilepsies, and targeting the pathobiology of structural epilepsies, such as the role neuronal support and myelination, neuroinflammation and immune response, energy metabolism, and the brain extracellular matrix (ECM) play in the refractory complex epilepsies.

The role of AI 

Technology and AI are having an increasingly significant role in epilepsy research and development - for instance, to help patients and families better characterize and manage their seizures. Our technology-based partnerships with Eysz and NextSense introduce new ways to track brain activity outside traditional EEG monitoring. Furthermore, our R&D teams continually harness UCB’s deep institutional knowledge of the pathobiology of epilepsies.  Using advanced analytics, we leverage AI resources to strengthen our discovery and development efforts. This includes identifying mechanisms and developing disease models through to prioritizing potential targets.

Broadening access 

At UCB, we believe that all patients who need our treatments should have access to them now and in the future. Health inequities are a challenge in bringing innovations to people living with epilepsies and elevating their standard of care. We’re working to address this through sustainable approaches to reach the historically underserved people of lower-middle-income countries and address their unmet needs. For instance, in Rwanda, we have recently worked with the government to enable those living with epilepsy to have access to UCB treatment.  

Health equity is also about deepening our local connections in the communities where we operate. This starts with understanding how diverse patient groups experience care and treatment, to better understand where social determinants of health may have exacerbated health inequities among historically underserved communities and define targeted approaches. 

Future thinking 

Looking ahead, we expect to see the continuing emergence of treatment modalities, delivery technologies, and hidden insights into underlying pathobiology. This has the potential to advance the development of disease-modifying solutions and support the progress toward curative medicine options for those living with epilepsies. Ultimately, our goal at UCB is to continue to innovate across the entire spectrum of epilepsy care – we want to treat the treatable and cure the curable.