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  • UCB in Epilepsy and Rare Syndromes

     

    For three decades, we’ve been committed to people living with epilepsy and their families, surrounding the patient and caregiver through every step of their care journey – from diagnosis to treatment to support in helping them navigate those moments in their lives that matter most. Because we must find solutions for seizures that won’t stop, not only to preserve those moments, but to protect the minds and the lives of those living with epilepsy and rare syndromes.

    Driven by Patient Value

    At our core, we have a profound responsibility to elevate the healthcare ecosystem. It is a responsibility that extends to the very heart of our purpose – patients, and their families. Thirty years ago, we ushered in a new era of epilepsy therapies largely due to our scientific breakthrough, introducing a completely unique and novel mechanism of action in the treatment of epilepsy and, we continued to redefine the SV2A class of medicines to treat seizures.

    Commitment to People, Purpose and Science

    We will continue to reimage how we care for patients, leveraging today s expertise for a better tomorrow. We are doing so, in many instances, on our own as we look at potential solutions for rapid seizure termination, our work in Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies (DEEs), and our pursuits in gene modification. But we understand that with the complexity of the ecosystem, there are instances where we will need to partner with purpose. Therefore, we are also pursuing external research collaborations to validate new potential therapeutic targets. With so much experience behind us and so much potential ahead, we are more invested than ever in profoundly improving the lives of those living with or caring for those with epilepsy or a rare epilepsy syndrome.

     

    Resources

    VIP Sibling

    We partnered with the Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) Foundation and Dravet Syndrome(DS) Foundation to compile the Siblings Voices Survey to assess how children adapt to growing up with siblings living with a rare form of epilepsy and created our VIP Sibling Project that includes resources to support siblings, parents, and caregivers of people living with a rare epilepsy syndrome.

    SUDEP

    We worked with more than 20 organizations committed to this community such as American Epilepsy Society, Danny Did Foundation, and the Epilepsy Foundation, and Child Neurology Foundation (CNF), to support the creation a toolkit of resources to raise awareness of potential causes of SUDEP.

    Digital Care Transformation 

    We continuously seek to innovate for the future creating our Digital Care Transformation incubator. Through this initiative, we support healthcare startups developing innovative solutions for epilepsy, such as NeuroHelp and Epihunter, using AI and wearable technology. We have also invested in detection and monitoring device companies like Neurava, Nextsense, Eysz, and Byteflies who are developing advanced technologies to improve seizure detection and monitoring, elevating the standard of care.

    Precision Medicine 

    We are shifting our development approach, to include more targeted, precision based interventions – which is critical to support those who have historically been difficult to treat. With acquisitions such as Engage Theraputics, and investments in collaborations with GliaPharm and Praxis Precision Medicines we are complementing our in house efforts to help identify new therapeutic targets in epilepsy and explore the discovery of small molecule therapeutics as potential treatments of KCNT1 related epilepsies) We do this with an eye toward developing potentially disease modifying treatments that could one day lead to a cure for epilepsy.

    Using RWE to Understand 
    Seizure Clusters 

    We’re collaborating with Le Bonheur Children s Hospital, the Wisconsin Health Information Organization (WHIO), and Yale University to examine the impact of seizure clusters on patient and caregiver quality of life, leveraging the power of education and real world evidence (RWE) to address this research gap, expand awareness, and enact positive change in the health outcomes of individuals with seizure clusters.

    Health Equity 

    We purposefully partner with patient led and focused organizations to increase connections across the healthcare industry, address health disparities in underrepresented and underserved communities such as the Hispanic and black communities, and help ease burdens people living with epilepsy and their caregivers are facing.

    Epilepsy Advocate™ 

    Created in 2006 EpilepsyAdvocate is a community of people living with epilepsy, their family members, and their caregivers. When it comes to epilepsy, knowledge is power. Whether you’ve had epilepsy for years or you are newly diagnosed, the more you know, the more you can do to try to control epilepsy and live life on your terms.

    Exploring Epilepsy Today 

    Let’s Explore Epilepsy Together.

    We believe that the health gaps among social, economic, racial, age, ethnic, and geographical groups that affect millions of Americans living with epilepsy are simply not acceptable. Our goal is to raise the standard of care for the communities we serve, which starts with informing you.

    UCB Family Epilepsy 
    Scholarship Program 

    Our annual UCB Family Epilepsy Scholarship program offers educational scholarships to people living with epilepsy, family members, and caregivers. Since 2004, UCB has awarded over $3 million in scholarships to more than 600 recipients who have applied their awards to undergraduate and graduate studies.