UCB stock weighs stronger BIMZELX PsA data against safety signals

UCB said on Monday, November 9, 2026, that its BIMZELX treatment maintained numerically higher joint-response rates than risankizumab through 24 weeks in the Phase 3b BE BOLD trial. The company presented the full findings at the 2026 ACR Convergence in Orlando on Tuesday, November 10.

According to the UCB press release, 54.9% of patients receiving bimekizumab achieved an ACR50 response at Week 24, compared with 43.8% of those receiving risankizumab. ACR50 measures at least a 50% improvement in tender and swollen joints together with improvement across three of five additional disease measures.

Week 16 result remains central

The Week 24 result was an exploratory endpoint assessed as nominally significant, rather than the trial's primary endpoint. At Week 16, 49.1% of patients treated with bimekizumab achieved ACR50 compared with 38.0% in the risankizumab group, a difference of 11.1 percentage points that met the study's statistical test with a p-value of 0.0058.

BE BOLD enrolled 553 adults with active psoriatic arthritis in a randomized, double-blind comparison. Participants were either new to biologic treatment or had previously received one tumor necrosis factor inhibitor without an adequate response or with intolerance. The study compared UCB's IL-17A and IL-17F inhibitor with risankizumab, an IL-23 inhibitor.

Skin outcomes and safety qualify read-through

UCB said responses across secondary endpoints remained numerically higher for bimekizumab through Week 24, but those comparisons were not statistically significant after sequential testing stopped at the first ranked secondary endpoint. Complete skin clearance was broadly comparable at Week 24: PASI100 was reached by 59.7% of bimekizumab-treated patients and 59.1% of risankizumab-treated patients in the relevant psoriasis subgroup.

Overall treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 58.1% of patients in the bimekizumab group and 55.3% in the risankizumab group. Localized Candida infections were more frequent with bimekizumab at 2.9% versus 0.7%. UCB said the infections were mild or moderate, with no serious cases or discontinuations attributed to them. The trial was not powered for a formal safety comparison.

For investors, the data strengthen the clinical positioning of BIMZELX in psoriatic arthritis, while the exploratory nature of the Week 24 comparison and the Candida imbalance limit how broadly the results can be extrapolated. The commercial importance lies in whether sustained joint responses support prescribing momentum in a competitive immunology market.

UCB stock at Lang & Schwarz

UCB stock traded at 292.00 euros on Lang & Schwarz at 11:30 CET on Wednesday, November 11, 2026.

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