UCB Successfully Completes Acquisition of Ra Pharmaceuticals

According to an April 2, 2020 press release, Belgian biopharmaceutical company, UCB, has successfully completed its acquisition of Ra Pharmaceuticals, which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.

As a result of the transaction, which was announced on Oct. 10, 2019, Ra Pharmaceuticals peptide inhibitor of complement component 5 (C5), zilucoplan, will be added to UCB’s pipeline. Additionally, Ra Pharmaceuticals’ ExtremeDiversity technology platform will be employed to accelerate the long-term innovation capabilities of UCB.

“In the last 15 months, we made several significant steps on UCB’s strategic growth path, namely the ‘Accelerate and Expand’ phase. This acquisition is a key part of this progress and an excellent strategic fit with UCB’s strategy. Ra Pharma builds upon our collective strengths and talents and adds to our strong internal growth opportunities,” said Jean-Christophe Tellier, CEO UCB, in the press release. “Zilucoplan gives us the opportunity to become a leader in treating people living with myasthenia gravis, an auto-antibody mediated neurological orphan disease with high unmet medical need. The acquisition also strengthens our neurology and immunology franchises with late and early-stage pipeline projects and adds a highly productive technology platform to our innovation engine.”

Source: UCB