Jean-Christophe Tellier will take over the leadership of UCB after current chief executive Roch Doliveux stands down next year, according to the company.
Tellier (pictured above) is currently executive vice president of UCB’s Biopharma Brands and Solutions division and will be proposed as CEO-elect on March 1 for confirmation at the company’s annual general meeting on April 24.
A medical doctor by training, Tellier held senior positions at Novartis and Ipsen before joining UCB in 2011 and will shadow Doliveux for the remainder of this year before taking over on January 1, 2015.
The succession announcement comes just ahead of UCB‘s 2013 results statement next week, in which it is expected to report operating earnings of around €700m on revenues estimated at €3.4bn.
Doliveux is stepping down after 10 years in charge at the Belgium-based company, during which time he oversaw its transformation from a diversified chemical firm to an organisation focused on biopharmaceuticals.
He has also been at the helm while UCB weathered the loss of patent protection to big-selling products such as epilepsy treatment Keppra (levetiracetam), which saw sales slump 18 per cent to €652m in the first nine months of 2013 on generic competition.
Tellier takes over at a time when UCB is looking to a new generation of products to replace Keppra and complement Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) for rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease with nine-month 2013 sales of €420m.
These include already-marketed drugs such as epilepsy therapy Vimpat (lacosamide) and Neupro (rotigotine) for Parkinson’s disease and restless legs syndrome (RLS), which are both growing quickly, as well as late-stage development candidates such as romosozumab for post-menopausal osteoporosis, epratuzumab for lupus and Keppra follow-up brivaracetam.
Meanwhile, UCB has also just negotiated a deal to sell Biogen Idec’s multiple sclerosis (MS) and haemophilia drugs in Asia.
“Our rich late-stage pipeline is poised to reach pivotal milestones from the second half of 2014 through mid-2016,” said Doliveux, adding: “Leadership continuity is critical to ensuring the successful launch of these important products.”