UCB Raises 2026 Targets, Driven by Bimzelx Success in the United States
The Belgian laboratory now anticipates adjusted EBITDA growth approximately twice as fast as revenue growth. This upgrade is based on both volume increases and more favorable net pricing conditions for its two main treatments.
Revenue Growth Expected in the Low Twenties in %
UCB announced on October 22, 2026, before the opening of the Brussels Stock Exchange, a new upgrade to its financial guidance for fiscal year 2026. The press release was published as regulated information and privileged information. This is an additional upgrade: the announced ranges replace targets that had already been revised previously by the group.
On revenue, the laboratory now targets growth in the low twenties in %, at constant exchange rates. The previous target was between the low and mid-range of the 10% bracket. To put the scale into perspective, UCB generated revenue of 7.7 billion euros in 2025.
The gap is more pronounced on expected profitability. The growth in adjusted EBITDA is now anticipated between the low and mid-range of the forties in %, at constant exchange rates, compared to a range from the mid-range of the 10% bracket to the low twenties in the previous guidance. According to the group, faster revenue growth should produce an operational leverage effect and significant margin expansion.
What the figures reveal: the adjusted EBITDA target grows more than the revenue target, which reflects, according to the company, a cost base that grows more slowly than sales. These ranges also exclude the proceeds from the sale of a Priority Review Voucher. This transaction would represent an addition of a few percentage points: a low single-digit level for revenue and a mid-single-digit level for adjusted EBITDA.
Bimzelx and Cimzia Driven by Volumes and Net Prices
The main driver of the upgrade is Bimzelx, whose performance in the United States exceeded the group's expectations. UCB highlights an increase in volumes across all indications, faster patient conversion, and higher treatment retention rates. The laboratory attributes this momentum to its investments, expanded reimbursement access, the product's clinical profile, and data from the BE BOLD study.
Price also contributes to the revision. A more favorable distribution channel mix improves net price and, according to the group, the value generated per patient. At the end of September 2026, UCB presented data on Bimzelx at the Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology highlighting the benefits of earlier treatment in moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa.
Cimzia, an older product, makes a contribution that the group deems solid. Its volumes are growing across all markets, even as the anti-TNF market contracts. The laboratory also indicates that the impact of the American 340B program (mandatory discount program for certain medicines) has been more moderate, thanks to strengthened control of reimbursement requests and the effect of a recent orphan drug designation.
The Chief Financial Officer Emphasizes the Conversion of Revenue into Profitability
Sandrine Dufour, UCB's Chief Financial Officer, stated that the performance of Bimzelx and Cimzia demonstrates, in her view, the group's ability to translate innovation into sustainable growth. She added that execution quality enables the conversion of revenue growth into operational leverage and increased profitability, while continuing to invest.
The group will publish its 2026 annual results and formal financial guidance for 2027 on February 25, 2027. Based in Brussels and listed on Euronext Brussels, UCB employs more than 9,000 people in approximately 40 countries. A week before this upgrade, on October 16, 2026, the laboratory obtained FDA approval for a self-injectable form of Zilbrysq in generalized myasthenia gravis.
