Inflammation

Inflammatory diseases can be classified in many different ways (for example allergy or autoimmune) but in all cases inflammation results from an inappropriate activation of the cells of the immune system and a subsequent inflammatory response.

UCB has a proven track record in the research and development of treatments for allergy with the discovery and successful commercialisation of leading anti-histamine cetirizine (Zyrtec®) and levocetirizine dihydrochloride (Xyzal®).

Autoimmune diseases comprise a growing group of medical conditions that affect a significant group of individuals worldwide in which the patient’s own immune system fails to recognise the body as self, mounts an abnormal immune attack and typically destroys afflicted tissue, for example, the joint in rheumatoid arthritis and the neural tissue in multiple sclerosis.

UCB is developing new drugs, both antibody-based and small molecules, designed to treat a range of serious autoimmune diseases including Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and psoriasis. UCB is targeting the molecules that regulate the immune system’s inappropriate response to the environmental or intrinsic factors that trigger inflammatory disease. The new drugs under development fall into two main classes: genetically engineered antibodies and traditional NCEs, which have different utility and allow UCB to attack inflammatory disease in a range of different ways.