VRP.L Regulatory News (VRP)

Verona Pharma plc ("Verona Pharma" or the "Company") £0.8m Placing London, UK, 4 October 2013 - Verona Pharma plc (LSE: VRP) announces a placingof 36,422,727 Ordinary Shares ("Placing Shares") of 0.1 pence in the capital ofthe Company at 2.2 pence per share to raise approximately £0.8 million beforeexpenses. The Placing Shares will be issued free of all liens, charges and encumbrancesand will, when issued and fully paid, rank pari passu in all respects with theexisting ordinary shares, including the right to receive all dividends andother distributions declared, made or paid after the date of their issue. Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of thePlacing Shares to trading on AIM ("Admission"). It is expected that Admissionwill occur and that dealings will commence at 8.00 a.m. on 25 October 2013, atwhich time it is also expected that the Placing Shares will be enabled forsettlement in CREST. Following Admission, the Company's enlarged issued share capital will comprise372,598,650 Ordinary Shares. From Admission, this figure of 372,598,650Ordinary Shares may be used by Shareholders in the Company as the denominatorfor the calculations by which they will determine if they are required tonotify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capitalof the Company under the FSA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. Subscriptions by Directors Jan-Anders Karlsson, Chief Executive of the Company, and Stuart Bottomley, aNon-Executive Director, have agreed to subscribe respectively for 909,091 and2,272,727 Placing Shares at 2.2 pence per share. Use of proceeds The Company will use the proceeds of the Placing to finance the ongoing costsof the business. As mentioned in its recent interim results published on 30thSeptember 2013, the Company is in discussions with potential strategicinvestors to cornerstone an equity issue to further progress the RPL554 andVRP700 programmes. As a result of this Placing, the Company has terminated its equity financefacility with Darwin Strategic Limited, which was announced on 31 January 3013. -Ends- For further information please contact: Verona Pharma plc Tel: 020 7863 3300Clive Page, ChairmanJan-Anders Karlsson, CEORichard Bungay, CFO WH Ireland Limited Tel: 020 7220 1666Chris FieldingNick Field FTI Consulting Tel: 020 7831 3113Julia PhillipsSimon Conway Notes to Editors About Verona Pharma plc Verona Pharma is developing "first-in-class" drugs to treat respiratorydisease, such as COPD, asthma and chronic, severe cough. The Company has threedrug programmes, two of which are in Phase 2. The lead programme, RPL554, is aninnovative dual phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3 and 4 inhibitor with bothbronchodilator and anti-inflammatory properties. VRP700 is an innovativeproduct for suppressing chronic, severe cough in patients with underlying lungdisease. In its third programme, Verona Pharma is investigating novelanti-inflammatory molecules, called NAIPs, for a wide range of respiratory andinflammatory diseases. About RPL554 for the treatment of COPD and Asthma Verona's lead drug, RPL554, is a dual phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3 and 4 inhibitorbeing developed as a novel treatment for chronic obstructive airways diseasesuch as COPD and asthma with bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory effects. Botheffects are essential to improve symptoms in patients with COPD or asthma.RPL554 is currently in phase 2 for both diseases. COPD is a chronic lung disease with significant unmet need for which currenttreatment is far from optimal, as it often has unwanted side-effects and/orlimited effectiveness. COPD is most commonly characterised by fixed airflowobstruction and chronic airways inflammation resulting from exposure toirritants like tobacco smoke. Asthma, which remains one of the most commonchronic diseases in the world, is characterised by recurrent breathing problemsand symptoms such as breathlessness, wheezing, chest tightness, and coughing.The market for COPD and asthma drugs is currently estimated to be £20 billion[source: visiongain]. About VRP700 for the treatment of Cough VRP700 is Verona Pharma's lead drug compound for the treatment of cough, havinga novel mechanism of action involving the suppression of cough initiatingsignals originating from cough sensory nerve endings located in the lungs. Aclinical trial completed at the University of Florence, Italy in September 2011demonstrated significant anti-tussive effects with nebulised VRP700 inhospitalized patients with chronic severe cough. Cough can be a very debilitating comorbidity reported by patients, especiallythose with respiratory conditions such as asthma, COPD, lung cancer,interstitial lung disease, fibrosis or lung infections. It is a neglectedsymptom which is often self-medicated. Consumer spending on OTC medications,including those for cough, grew by 10% over 2005-10, to reach £532 million inthe UK [source: Mintel]. However, there is very little clinical evidence forsuch OTC cough medications being really effective and it is widely recognisedby the medical community that there is a large need for more effective drugs tocontrol and prevent pathologically induced coughing.