VRP.L Regulatory News (VRP)

Verona Pharma Appoints Richard Hennings as Commercial Director;

Enters into Collaborations to Develop Dry Powder and Metered Dose Inhaler Formulations for COPD Maintenance Treatment

Richard Hennings brings more than a decade of strategic commercial biopharma leadership

Development of RPL554 in dry powder and metered dose inhaler formulations has potential to increase commercial market opportunity

31 March 2017, London - Verona Pharma plc (AIM: VRP.L) ("Verona Pharma" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercialising innovative therapeutics for the treatment of respiratory diseases, announced today the appointment of Richard Hennings to the Company's senior management team as Commercial Director, with immediate effect. Richard will oversee the Company's market access strategy and its increasing commercial focus. As part of this, Verona Pharma has also announced new collaborations with two European technology companies to develop its first-in-class product candidate RPL554 as dry powder inhaler (DPI) and metered dose inhaler (MDI) formulations for maintenance treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). DPI and MDI devices are the most common forms of drug delivery in non-hospitalized patients with COPD and are well-suited for the maintenance therapy of COPD patients.

With more than 15 years in the healthcare industry, Richard has held a series of roles with increasing responsibility, including leading the commercialisation of certain innovative medicines, strategy development and local operational execution. His experience spans a number of top global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including AstraZeneca, Gilead Sciences (Gilead) and Novartis. During his tenure at Gilead, Richard was involved in growing Gilead's respiratory development portfolio to include cystic fibrosis and COPD development programmes.

In addition, the Company believes its new collaborations to develop RPL554 in DPI and MDI formulations have the potential to increase the market opportunity for the product, if approved. Handheld DPI and MDI devices are the most common forms of drug delivery in non-hospitalized patients with COPD and are well suited for maintenance therapy. Following the development of commercially viable formulations, Verona Pharma plans to commence pre-clinical studies with the DPI and MDI formulations and may also explore the potential use of the formulation for the treatment of asthma and other respiratory diseases.

"We are delighted to welcome Richard to the Verona Pharma team and look forward to advancing our market focus and commercial plans under his leadership. Richard brings extensive experience in commercial planning and launch preparations, as well as brand building of innovative respiratory products in the U.S. and Europe." said Jan-Anders Karlsson, PhD, CEO of Verona Pharma. "In addition, we believe our new collaborations to develop RPL554 in both DPI and MDI inhaler formulations could improve the product's potential to address the unmet needs of people with difficult-to-manage respiratory diseases such as COPD, and, if approved, could open up commercial opportunities in out-patients that are able to use hand-held inhaler devices."

-ENDS-

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About Verona Pharma plc

Verona Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics for the treatment of respiratory diseases with significant unmet medical needs. Verona Pharma's product candidate, RPL554, is a first-in-class, inhaled, dual inhibitor of the enzymes phosphodiesterase 3 and 4 that acts as both a bronchodilator and an anti‑inflammatory agent in a single compound. In clinical trials, treatment with RPL554 has been observed to result in statistically significant improvements in lung function as compared to placebo and has shown clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in lung function when added to two commonly used bronchodilators as compared to either bronchodilator administered as a single agent. RPL554 has also shown anti-inflammatory effects and been well tolerated in clinical trials. Verona Pharma is developing RPL554 for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, and potentially asthma.

Forward Looking Statements 

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements. 

These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from our expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the development of DPI and MDI formulations of RPL554 and the potential for these formulations to increase the market opportunity for the product, if approved.

These and other important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.