An attorney with almost three decades of experience in a wide range of legal fields, Anna Richo was named one of FiercePharma’s 2009 Top 15 Women in Pharma. Since 2012, Anna Richo has served as executive vice president and general counsel for UCB. UCB is a Belgium-based biopharmaceutical company that focuses primarily on the development of products for immunology and neurology disorders. The company has two research centers and two biotech plants in Europe, with a total research and development team of more than 1,000 individuals. UCB offers funding to outside individuals and organizations around the world who are working to raise awareness for, and expand research and improve understanding of severe diseases. UCB grants provide support to programs undertaking research into diseases such as epilepsy, Crohn’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.
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An experienced biopharmaceutical professional, Anna Richo oversees legal affairs, intellectual property, and compliance in her role as executive Vice President and general counsel of UCB in Brussels, Belgium. Earlier in her career, Anna Richo served as senior vice president and chief compliance officer of Amgen, Inc. In early June 2016, Amgen announced the results of its most recent Phase 2 clinical study that tested the effectiveness of an innovative new pharmaceutical. Called erenumab (or AMG 334), this drug focuses on the body’s Calcitonin-Gene-Related-Peptide (CGRP) receptor and prevents it from sending migraine pain signals to the brain. Amgen tested erenumab over the course of 12 weeks, analyzing 667 participants who were afflicted with up to 18 migraines each month. At the beginning of the clinical trial, the trial aimed to decrease the number of days on which patients experienced migraines, particularly within the last month of testing. To best determine erenumab’s effects, Amgen designed a study that randomized the participants, subcutaneously administering a placebo to some of them while others received one of two dose strengths of erenumab. The results were promising, as those who received doses of erenumab saw a migraine reduction of 6.6 days per month. Patients who received the placebo only experienced a 4.2-day-per-month decline. On the back of these results, Amgen will soon pursue Phase 3 studies and present erenumab to the medical community at an upcoming conference. Anna Richo is an attorney who has rendered her services as a counsel to several healthcare and medical companies including UCB, where she is also an executive vice president. Anna Richo was previously the senior vice president and chief compliance officer at Amgen, Inc. Both of the abovementioned companies figured in a press release by Amgen earlier this year as they announced the positive results of a phase 3 study which aimed to evaluate the effects of Romosozumab on men with Osteoporosis. The 3rd phase study, named placebo-controlled study evaluatIng the efficacy and safety of Romosozumab in treating men with osteoporosis, yielded data showing that the drug met the primary endpoint and actually demonstrated a significant increase in bone mineral density (BMD) among men with osteoporosis. The data were confirmed using a dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. The secondary endpoints of the study were also met. Those who received Romosozumab showed significant increases in BMD at the femoral neck and total hip within a year. Moreover, results started showing as early as six months with a significant increase of BMD at the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip compared to those who were on placebo. After working with a number of leading pharmaceutical companies in the US, Anna Richo joined international biopharmaceutical firm UCB in Brussels, Belgium, in 2012. As UCB’s executive vice president and general counsel, Anna Richo is responsible for the legal, corporate compliance, and intellectual property departments at UCB.
Focused on creating treatments for immunology and central nervous system disorders, UCB engages in an extensive and complicated drug development process that can span between 10 and 12 years. UCB explains that it costs more than 800 million pounds to fully develop a new drug, with approximately 60 percent of that cost dedicated to rigorous clinical trials. During the clinical development process, UCB conducts three trial phases that involve an increasing number of patients in order to explore drug efficacy, safety, and side effects. According to the company, new drugs are chosen from thousands of substances that could potentially treat a certain condition, but for a wide range of reasons, fewer than one or two substances per 10,000 analyzed succeed in reaching the market with authorization for patient use. |
AuthorAs of November 1, 2012, Anna Richo became Executive Vice President and General Counsel of UCB, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Archives
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