UCB SA - BNP Paribas Fortis

assisted drug discovery (“CADD”), a technology which assists and facilitates drug discovery
programmes through the application of advanced modelling, simulation and data visualisation
techniques, and protein crystallography, a technology which provides structural information on
compound binding to research targets.
NBE Technologies
UCB’s proprietary selected lymphocyte antibody method (“SLAM”) technology enables the Issuer to
isolate rare, high-affinity, functionally-active antibodies with speed and precision, reducing the time it
takes to identify these antibodies from six months to approximately eight weeks. The development of
this licensed technology has enabled UCB to identify such antibodies and to develop them for specific
requirements from a wide range of species. The UCB Group is constantly endeavouring to improve
SLAM, with the PEGylated antibody fragment platform giving the UCB Group a further edge by
enabling it to prolong the therapeutic activity of the fragment of antibody, leading to less frequent, more
convenient dosing.
(c) Therapeutic Focus: Research Areas
In accordance with its general strategy, the research and development activities of the UCB Group are
focused on the therapeutic areas of severe CNS and immunology disorders.
Central Nervous System
The UCB Group has an established record of innovative CNS research and has developed a number of
novel, marketed drugs and continues to strive for new treatments of neurological disorders such as
epilepsy, diabetic neuropathic pain, Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders as well as
diseases involving cognitive impairment. The research strategy of the UCB Group in the therapeutic
field of CNS is to combine target-based drug discovery with a focus on target validation in diseaserelevant
neuropharmacology models of integrative brain activity. The UCB Group’s research focuses
on neural excitability as a whole because the UCB Group considers that abnormalities in neural
excitability and synchronization underlie many neurological conditions.
The UCB Group established a leading scientific platform for the therapy and treatment of epilepsy with
the development and production of Keppra®, followed by the approval of Vimpat® in 2008. Clinical
trials for Keppra®XR in the U.S. for monotherapy use are ongoing, with results expected later in 2009.
The UCB Group is continuing to develop new molecules for the treatment of epilepsy, with Phase III
results of brivaracetam currently being analysed. Brivaracetam is a broad-spectrum anti-epileptic
product in development which has a distinct pharmacological profile that distinguishes it from other
currently available treatment options, demonstrating a 10-fold higher affinity for synaptic vesicle
protein 2A (SV2A) than Keppra®. The clinical significance of these findings is not known.
Brivaracetam also demonstrated inhibitory activity at neuronal voltage-dependent sodium channels
whose abnormal function is understood to contribute to electrical discharges associated with seizures.
These differences may be important for the antiepileptic activity of brivaracetam, its clinical efficacy
and its tolerability. Brivaracetam is protected by a composition of matter patent until 2021.
Vimpat® is in development as a diabetic neuropathic pain treatment in both the U.S. and the EU. A
new Phase III trial design is being proposed for further testing in 2009. Separately, testing continues in
relation to the use of Vimpat® as a monotherapy for epilepsy in the U.S., where the Phase III trial is
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