Biotech UCB Mimics Obesity Drug Stocks With Skin Disease Focus
- Shares of Belgian firm UCB have more than doubled this year
- Analysts are optimistic about Bimzelx’s blockbuster potential
UCB’s biomanufacturing operations center in Braine-L'Alleud, Belgium.
Photographer: Laurie Dieffembacq/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Amid the stock market frenzy surrounding weight-loss medicines, one Belgian biotech company is rewarding investors by focusing on a much more low-profile area of drug development: Treatments for skin disease.
Shares of UCB SA have more than doubled this year, lifting its market value to €32.2 billion ($35 billion). The stock is the best performer in Europe’s Stoxx 600 Health Care Index after obesity-drug developer Zealand Pharma A/S, largely reflecting optimism around the blockbuster potential of UCB’s Bimzelx medicine.