For most companies the prospect of temporarily mothballing your fourth most-valuable product in development would spell share price disaster, but the decision to call a halt on independent development for the phase II MAb olokizumab barely registered for UCB (UCBJY.PK). Shares in the group were flat at €43.47 in afternoon trading. What appears to be making UCB bulletproof for the time being is that the Brussels-based company, unlike many of its European peers, is set to emerge from its patent expiry cliff by the end of the year; add to this what many analysts see as strong growth prospects for a trio of its newer products and UCB can afford to have this developmental hiccup.
