UCB Half Year Report 2020: UCB’s resilient product portfolio drives continued company growth

Brussels (Belgium), 27 July 2020 – 7:00 (CEST) – regulated information – 

Acquisitions and Agreements

April 2020 – Closing of Ra Pharma acquisition - the acquisition of Ra Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has been successfully completed and Ra Pharma is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of UCB. This acquisition should enhance UCB’s leadership potential in myasthenia gravis by adding zilucoplan, a peptide inhibitor of complement component 5 (C5) currently in Phase 3, to the UCB pipeline alongside to UCB’s rozanolixizumab, an FcRn targeting antibody also in Phase 3. Zilucoplan is a novel investigational molecule also being evaluated in other complement-mediated diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM).

June 2020 - UCB acquires Engage Therapeutics, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing Staccato^® Alprazolam for the rapid termination of an active epileptic seizure. Staccato^® Alprazolam is an investigational drug (Phase 2b) designed to be used as a single-use epileptic seizure rescue therapy that combines the Staccato^® delivery technology with alprazolam, a benzodiazepine.

July 2020 – UCB and Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. have entered into a co-promotion agreement to commercialize the prefilled syringe formulation of Cimzia^® (certolizumab pegol) in the United States for the treatment of Crohn’s disease (CD). UCB will continue to be responsible for all product-related activities, including revenue recognition. UCB will continue to promote and to commercialize the lyophilized formulation of Cimzia^® for all indications as well as the prefilled syringe formulation for the rheumatology and dermatology indications

R&D update 
In March, the evolving COVID-19 pandemic led UCB to pause new patient recruitment into ongoing clinical studies and to postpone all new study starts. This has led to some delays of UCB’s clinical studies. As from end-May 2020, UCB began to restart clinical study recruitment, including new study starts, at clinical trials sites that meet the restart criteria. The latest timelines for UCB’s clinical development programs are shown below. UCB will continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on all ongoing clinical trials and will implement changes as necessary. 

In January 2020, Cimzia^® (certolizumab pegol) was approved by the Japanese health authorities for the treatment plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, pustular psoriasis and psoriatic erythroderma for which existing treatment methods are not sufficiently effective. The approval makes Cimzia^® the first Fc-free, PEGylated anti-TNF treatment option now available for these patients in Japan. During the first quarter 2020, Vimpat^® (lacosamide) for the adjunctive treatment of primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures (PGTCS) in study participants 4 years of age and older was filed with the U.S., EU and Japanese regulatory agencies.

In March, UCB reported that the Phase 2b study with padsevonil in drug-resistant focal epilepsy patients did not reach statistical significance for either of the primary endpoints. Padsevonil was generally well-tolerated and its safety profile was consistent with that seen in earlier studies. Further analysis of the data led UCB to the decision to terminate the padsevonil program as it did not offer sufficient benefit for people living with epilepsy over existing anti-epileptic treatment options.

In July, the Phase 3b study BE RADIANT, comparing bimekizumab to secukinumab for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, met all primary and ranked secondary endpoints, achieving significantly greater efficacy than secukinumab.

In Q3, UCB and its partner Biogen will include the first patients into the Phase 3 program with dapirolizumab pegol in patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) despite standard-of-care treatment. First headline results are expected in H1 2024.

Net sales break-down by core product⁴

In December 2019, UCB launched Nayzilam^® (midazolam) Nasal Spray^CIV, the first and only nasal rescue treatment for epilepsy seizure clusters in the U.S. Net sales in the first six months 2020 were € 11 million.

Evenity^® (romosozumab) for the treatment of severe osteoporosis in postmenopausal women at high risk of fracture had its first European launch in March 2020 and reported net sales of € 1 million. 

⁴Due to rounding, some financial data may not add up in the tables.

HY 2020 financial highlights 

⁵Due to rounding, some financial data may not add up in the tables. 
⁶For the net financial cash / debt, the reporting date for comparative period is 31 December 2019.

Revenue and net sales in the first six months of 2020 reached € 2 608 million and € 2 491 million, both +12%, +9% CER or +10% at CER and adjusted for divestitures respectively. Net sales before “designated hedging reclassified to net sales” (- € 51 million in H1 2019 / - € 9 million in HY 2020) were up by 10% (+9% CER). This growth was driven by the continued positive and resilient performance of UCB’s product portfolio. Royalty income and fees increased to € 38 million from € 33 million. Other revenue increased to € 79 million from € 71 million. 

Gross profit increased to € 1 925 million in-line with topline growth and reflecting a stable gross margin of 74%. 

Operating expenses reached € 1 311 million (+14%; +13% CER) driven by 

• 13% higher marketing and selling expenses of € 569 million – due to launches and prelaunch activities: Cimzia^® in non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis in the U.S. and the launches in China and Japan, Nayzilam^® in the U.S., Evenity^® in Europe as well as launch preparations for bimekizumab for the treatment of psoriasis; 

• 21% higher research and development expenses of € 689 million which include the first time R&D expenses for the Ra Pharma development program, the termination costs (€ 38 million) in connection with the termination of the project padsevonil in focal onset seizures as well as high investments in UCB’s progressing clinical pipeline encompassing five late stage assets. The R&D ratio reached 26% in the first six months of 2020 after 24% in HY 2020.
• 2% lower general and administrative expenses of € 94 million, also reflecting lower costs due to Covid-19 pandemic and including a donation of € 3 million in connection with COVID-19 pandemic. 
• other operating income of € 41 million driven by the collaboration with Amgen for the commercialization of Evenity^®. 

This resulted in a stable operating expense ratio (in relation to revenue) of 50%.

Underlying profitability – adjusted (recurring) EBITDA⁷- reached € 783 million after € 724 million (+8%; +0% CER) driven by continued revenue growth and increased operating expenses, reflecting the investments into the future of UCB, namely into product launches and clinical development. The adjusted (recurring) EBITDA ratio for the first six months of 2020 (in % of revenue) reached 30%, after 31% in 2019. In compliance with the ESMA Alternative Performance Measures guidelines, “recurring EBITDA” is renamed into “adjusted EBITDA”. The calculation methodology remains unchanged.

Other expenses were € 95 million – due to restructuring expenses and fees related to the acquisition of Ra Pharma and Engage Therapeutics - after an income of € 27 million in 2019. 

Net financial expenses increased to € 61 million from € 53 million, due to the debt financing of the Ra Pharma acquisition. 

Income tax expenses were € 70 million compared to € 108 million in June 2019. The average effective tax rate was 15% compared to 20% in the same period of last year, but in line with the 2019 full year effective tax rate. 

Driven by “other expenses” Profit of the Group amounted to € 388 million (after € 437 million), of which € 363 million is attributable to UCB shareholders and € 25 million (after € 26 million) to non-controlling interests.

Core earnings per share, which reflect profit attributable to UCB shareholders, adjusted for the after-tax impact of one-time expenses, the financial one-offs, the after-tax contribution from discontinued operations and the net amortization of intangibles linked to sales, reached € 2.77 based on 189 million weighted average shares outstanding after € 2.42 based on 187 million weighted average shares outstanding. 

Outlook 2020 confirmed - UCB confirms its expectations for 2020 revenue to reach approximately € 5.05 – 5.15 billion, adjusted (recurring) EBITDA in the range of 26 - 27% of revenue and core earnings per share are therefore expected in the range of € 4.40 – 4.80 based on an average of 188 million shares outstanding. Based on UCB’s current assessment of the Covid-19 pandemic, UCB remains confident in the fundamental underlying demand for its products and its prospects for long-term growth. UCB will continue to closely follow evolving COVID-19 pandemic diligently to assess potential near- and mid-term challenges. 

CFO transition in 2020 – on July 1st, UCB welcomed Sandrine Dufour as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Sandrine is now a member of UCB’s Executive Committee reporting to Jean-Christophe Tellier, UCB’s CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee. Sandrine Dufour is a senior executive with a proven track record and deep financial expertise that stems from more than 25 years leading with successful national and global organizations. From 2015 to recently she held the role of CFO at Proximus, Belgium’s largest telecommunication company.

⁷adj. EBITDA = adjusted (recurring) Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization charges. In compliance with the ESMA Alternative Performance Measures guidelines, recurring EBITDA, is renamed into “adjusted EBITDA”. The calculation methodology remains unchanged.

Today, UCB will host a conference call/video webcast at 08.00 (EDT) / 13.00 (BST) 14.00 (CEST).

Details are available on https://www.ucb.com/investors/UCB-financials/Half-year-financial-results.

For further information:

Investor Relations
Antje Witte          
Investor Relations, UCB
T +32.2.559.94.14 antje.witte@ucb.com

Isabelle Ghellynck,
 Investor Relations, UCB
T+32.2.559.9588, isabelle.ghellynck@ucb.com 

Corporate Communications
Laurent Schots 
Media Relations, UCB  
T+32.2.559.92.64  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 more than 7 500 people in approximately 40 countries, the company generated revenue of € 4.9 billion in 2019. UCB is listed on Euronext Brussels (symbol: UCB). Follow us on Twitter: @UCB_news

Forward looking statements UCB
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