Agile leadership and resource allocation in a global pharmaceutical company

Abstract

UCB, an innovation and R&D-based biopharma leader, has been growing off of its stable portfolio over the latest decade. In the next years, they are about to lose exclusivity on two of their major blockblusters, Cimzia and Vimpat, together accounting for more than half of the company’s net sales in 2019 (UCB, 2019b). While there are 6 new drugs. Currently in the R&D pipeline, their exact faith is still a question mark. Topped with international uncertainties, the external environment also brings doubts reaching from political (US elections) to economic (COVID-19) questions and more. In these uncertain times, one thing is sure UCB can no longer rely on its stable processes established over the years. They need to be able to show agility and quickly allocate resources to where it brings the most value for the organisation.