UCB SA on behalf of its affiliate UCB Pharma SA (UCB), and PDL BioPharma, Inc. jointly announced that the companies have entered into a definitive settlement agreement that resolves all legal disputes between them, including those relating to UCB’s pegylated humanized antibody fragment, Cimzia (certolizumab pegol), and PDL's patents known as the Queen et al. patents.

Under the settlement agreement, PDL provided UCB a covenant not to sue UCB for any royalties regarding UCB’s Cimzia product under the Queen patent portfolio in return for a lump sum payment of US$ 10 million and the mutual resolution of other disputes between the two companies, including two pending patent interferences before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and a patent opposition in the European Patent Office. No additional payments will be owed by UCB to PDL under the Queen patents in respect of Cimzia sales for any indication and the sale of a product in development that may or may not be approved within the term of the Queen patents.

Cimzia is a pegylated, humanised TNFa (Tumour Necrosis Factor Alpha) antibody fragment. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Cimzia for reducing signs and symptoms of Crohn's disease and maintaining clinical response in adult patients with moderately to severely active disease who have had an inadequate response to conventional therapy and for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).

Cimzia in combination with methotrexate (MTX), is approved in the EU for the treatment of moderate to severe active RA in adult patients inadequately responsive to Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DMARDs) including MTX. It can be given as monotherapy in case of intolerance to MTX or when continued treatment with MTX is inappropriate. UCB is also developing Cimzia in other autoimmune disease indications. Cimzia is a registered trademark of UCB Pharma SA.

UCB, is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines and solutions to transform the lives of people living with severe diseases of the immune system or of the central nervous system.