Brussels, Belgium/Boston, Massachusetts, March 6, 2019 -- UCB Ventures, the corporate venture arm of UCB Pharma, today announced that Alicia Irurzun-Lafitte will join UCB Ventures as Partner in Boston. Alicia brings 10 years of deal making experience, spanning business development transactions to early stage investments in biotech. She will work closely with the London and Brussels teams to source and support transactions in the US and beyond.

Alicia joins from M Ventures, the corporate ventures arm of Merck KGaA where she was instrumental in the expansion of its Healthcare Portfolio and was the US based representative since 2014. During her time at M Ventures, Alicia was closely involved in company creation with the Merck Spin-offs and she represented the fund on various boards. Alicia holds a Master of Research in Biopharmaceutical Sciences from Leiden University, the Netherlands.

"We are thrilled to have Alicia join our team," said Erica Whittaker, Head of UCB Ventures. "Boston is a critically important biotech hub, and Alicia's investment experience and network will add significantly to our efforts as we continue to build our investment portfolio."

"I am delighted to join the UCB Ventures team and further contribute to the expansion of a new corporate venture fund that has a long-term commitment for high risk, high reward science," said Alicia Irurzun-Lafitte. "Delivering impactful therapies to patients is deeply rooted in UCB culture, and its Venture Fund is one of the key enablers of this ambition."

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About UCB Ventures

UCB Ventures is a €150 million strategic corporate venture fund established in 2017 to further strengthen UCB's ability to create value from novel insights and technologies that can transform the lives of patients suffering from severe diseases. UCB Ventures invests in innovative therapeutics and technology platforms that are early stage and higher risk, in areas adjacent to or even beyond UCB's therapeutic focus on neurology/neurodegenerative diseases, immunology and muscular skeletal/bone health. UCB Ventures takes an active role in its portfolio companies, contributing expertise in drug discovery, development and operations. Visit www.UCBVentures.com to learn more.

About UCB

UCB, Brussels, Belgium (www.ucb.com) 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 in immunology and neurology. With around 7,500 people in approximately 40 countries, the company generated revenue of € 4.6 billion in 2018. UCB is listed on Euronext Brussels (symbol: UCB). Follow us on Twitter: @UCB_news

For further information, UCB:

U.S. Media Relations
Allyson Funk
Head of U.S. Communications and Public Affairs
T +1 678.365.6321
Allyson.Funk@ucb.com

Corporate Communications
Laurent Schots
Media Relations, UCB  
T+32.2.559.92.64 
Laurent.schots@ucb.com