Appointment of Richard Bungay as CFO

Verona Pharma plc ("Verona Pharma" or the "Company") Appointment of Richard Bungay as CFO London, UK, 5 September 2013 - Verona Pharma plc (AIM: VRP.L), the drugdevelopment company focused on "first-in-class" medicines to treat respiratorydiseases, today announces the appointment of Richard Bungay as Chief FinancialOfficer, initially on a part-time basis, with immediate effect. Mr. Bungay, 44, has close to 20 years' experience in corporate roles within R&D-based companies within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector. Richardis currently part-time CEO of Chroma Therapeutics Ltd, a VC-backedbiotechnology company working on the development of novel small molecules forinflammation and oncology, having previously been the CFO of the Company. Priorto this he was Director of Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning atCelltech Group plc until its acquisition by UCB in 2004, with responsibilitiesthat included investor relations and corporate M&A. This followed time atAstraZeneca as Finance Director within the Respiratory and Inflammation TherapyArea. He moved there in 1998 from Celltech where he was Financial Controller,having held a number of positions of increasing seniority since joining theCompany in 1994. Richard qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte. Verona Pharma's previous CFO, Danny Lowe, who is based in Canada, will workclosely with Richard for an interim period ensuring a thorough handover. Dr. Jan-Anders Karlsson, CEO of Verona Pharma, commented, "Richard's experiencein financial management of innovative R&D-based businesses as well as hisexperience in investor relations will be invaluable to Verona Pharma as we moveour key clinical programmes forward and grow the Company. We would like tothank Danny for his significant contributions to Verona Pharma over the lastseven years." Mr. Bungay commented. "There is significant potential for companies developinginnovative medicines focused in areas of high unmet need. I have been impressedby the strength of Verona Pharma's pipeline and management and look forward toworking with the team to rapidly progress these programmes towards marketapproval." -Ends- For further information please contact: Verona Pharma plc Tel: 020 7863 3300 Clive Page, Chairman Jan-Anders Karlsson, CEO WH Ireland Limited Tel: 020 7220 1666 Chris Fielding Nick Field FTI Consulting Tel: 020 7831 3113 Julia Phillips Simon Conway Notes to Editors About Verona Pharma plc Verona Pharma is developing first-in-class drugs to treat respiratory disease,such as COPD, asthma and chronic severe cough. The Company has three drugprogrammes, two of which are in Phase II. The lead programme, RPL554, is aninnovative dual phosphodiesterease (PDE) 3 and 4 inhibitor with bothbronchodilator and anti-inflammatory properties. VRP700 is an innovativeproduct for suppressing chronic severe chough 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. Verona Pharma is based in London, U.K. For moreinformation, visit: www.veronapharma.com