Pharma firm makes €519m profit on drug sale

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Gordon Deegan

A pharma firm based in Shannon made a profit of €519m from the sale of the intellectual property (IP) of its main drug last year.

New accounts show that UCB Manufacturing Ireland recorded pre-tax profits of €461m that arose chiefly from the sale of the IP of its Parkinson's disease drug, Neupro. Revenues at the firm - formerly Schwarz Pharma - rose from €114.6m to €136.35m.

The profit from the sale of Neupro together with restructuring costs and fixed asset impairment resulted in a net exceptional gain of €479.7m.

The directors' report discloses that subsequent to year end, the directors proposed a dividend payout of €175m. Numbers employed by the firm last year reduced from 124 to 120.

The sale of the IP of Neupro was made to a connected firm in the UCB group. According to the directors' report, the sale was part of UCB's overall strategy to centralise the IP of its main products. Neupro is a skin patch which provides continuous drug delivery and proven efficacy for the treatment of every stage of Parkinson's disease. The firm recorded after-tax profits last year of €409.89m after paying corporate tax of €51.9m.

The Belgian-headquartered company's cash pile last year increased from €1m to €364.7m.