Belgium's UCB Reviews Research

Belgian chemicals and pharmaceutical group UCB says in its annual reportthat its R&D focus is increasingly concentrated on two therapeutic fields - allergies and the central nervous system - where it claims to have developed special expertise.

UCB says that clinical studies have shown that levetiracetam, used in parallel with existing treatment, can reduce the frequency of attacks in patients who suffer from epilepsy. The molecule seems to act on the origins and causes of epilepsy, whereas most of the medicines currently available only treat the symptoms, such as convulsions, the company says.

An anti-epileptic product based on levetiracetam will be the first in UCB's CNS program for which registration will be sought. It is expected that a marketing approval application on this product will be submitted by the end of 1998 both in Europe and the USA, where an R&D team attached to UCB Pharma Inc will be responsible for progressing the file.