With an estimated 75,000 people coming to Atlanta for the Big Game and over 100 million tuning in to watch it, Duane Barnes, former college football player and UCB’s President, Head of U.S. Operations talks about how having the game in our backyard helps us to reflect on our game plan to deliver wins for patients. Read the full article on LinkedIn.

“While it’s exciting to have the game in our backyard, we at UCB are also just as inspired by the time and dedication of the teams, city officials, stadium support staff, and countless others who contribute to making the event successful.

As the Head of U.S. Operations at UCB, I’m responsible for coaching internal teams and collaborating with external stakeholders to create value for patients with chronic and severe diseases. In practice, this means starting with putting patients at the heart of everything we do—from discovery to development to delivery of our research and medications—so that patients can achieve their best, whatever that means for them.

So how do we make it happen and aim to create wins for patients?  

Giving People a Reason to Get Excited and Stay Loyal
It’s an incredibly exciting time at UCB and in this new era of medicine, both with scientific discovery and information sharing, and we are working hard to add even more value.

• We have 12 potential new medications in our pipeline, actively being researched to help deliver patients with new options to help patients live their best lives.  
• We aim to be better partners to the people we serve with patient support programs, community outreach, ongoing educational initiatives, and investing significant resources into research and development.

If we can consistently stay true to this plan and our mission, UCB can make a real difference for patients. And for us, that’s the biggest win of all.”


Duane H. Barnes is the President, Head of U.S. Operations at UCB and serves on the Healthcare Leadership Council and the National Association of Specialty Pharmacies Board of Directors.  Previously, he held senior leadership roles at Amgen, Aetna and Quest Diagnostics.  He honed his love of football and coaching in his hometown of Pittsburgh, during his time as a lineman at West Virginia University and at West Point, and as high school coach in Chicago.