MPH.L Regulatory News (MPH)

Mereo BioPharma Group plc

("Mereo" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Directorate update

London, 12 January 2017 - Mereo BioPharma Group plc (AIM: MPH), a clinical stage, UK-based, biopharmaceutical company focused on rare and specialty diseases, is pleased to announce that, further to the announcement on 7 November 2016, Richard Jones will join the Company as Chief Financial Officer and an Executive Director on the Board on 30 January 2017.

Following the announcement by Diurnal Group plc today, it has been agreed Richard Bungay will begin the role of Chief Financial Officer at Diurnal Group plc on 16 January 2017 and hence will leave Mereo on 13 January 2017.

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About Mereo

Mereo is a UK-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative medicines that aim to address unmet medical needs in rare and specialty disease areas and improve patient quality of life. The Company seeks to selectively acquire development-stage product candidates with demonstrated clinically meaningful data from large pharmaceutical companies and to rapidly progress these product candidates to subsequent value inflection points.

Mereo combines the operational discipline and efficiency of a small company with the financial resources to conduct comprehensive clinical studies. The Company has the option to directly commercialise products, for example in orphan diseases, in addition to partnering or divesting its products.

Mereo's initial portfolio consists of three mid-late stage clinical assets that were acquired from Novartis in July 2015. BPS-804 is being developed for the prevention of fractures resulting from osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease); acumapimod (BCT-197), is being developed to treat inflammation in patients with an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; and BGS-649 is a once-weekly pill to restore normal testosterone levels in men with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.

In H1 2016 the Company initiated a Phase 2 study with acumapimod and a Phase 2b study with BGS-649. Mereo expects to commence the first pivotal trial for BPS-804 during H1 2017. Additional product opportunities, from a range of large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, are under active evaluation.