With the U.S. heavily impacted by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, UCB is committed to playing our part to contribute our scientific expertise and resources to the greater response effort happening across the country and the world. This includes expanding our assistance programs to further help patients impacted by the pandemic.

Our actions are focused on three pillars - contributing to basic research and treatment development, offering our expertise globally to increase local testing capabilities, and supporting local communities through donations and direct support to patients and partners.

Examples of our actions in the U.S. include:
 

• We are actively working with the Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease to identify crystal structures of SARS-CoV-2 proteins.
• In addition to providing funding support to organizations in need during this challenging time, our research facility in Bedford, Massachusetts, donated safety glasses, gloves, disposable lab coats, protective suits and gowns, and bags of strip PCR tubes from our labs to be used by healthcare institutions and researchers in Massachusetts to test and treat patients with COVID-19.  
• UCB is also supporting healthcare professionals in our company who wish to volunteer their expertise in line with local government needs and guidance.
• Further, we have expanded our existing Patient Assistance Program (PAP) to help eligible patients who have been impacted by COVID-19 by expediting enrollment to help ensure uninterrupted access to their medicines at no cost. This change will help patients experiencing difficulty affording UCB medicines due to job loss, job furlough, or loss of insurance coverage during this unprecedented time.

Each day, our teams are relentlessly working to be proactive and agile, so we can continue to keep patients at the heart of everything we do, especially during this difficult time. As always, our ucbCARES team stands ready to support patients, caregivers, and health care professionals - including those impacted by COVID-19 - by answering questions and ensuring they receive the respect and care they deserve. To learn more, read our response statement or contact ucbCARES.

For the latest updates on our U.S. response, go here, or for our full global response, go here.