Holding(s) in Company

TR-1: NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTEREST IN SHARES

1. Identity of the issuer or the underlying issuer of existing shares to which voting rights are attached:

Vernalis plc

2 Reason for the notification (please tick the appropriate box or boxes):

An acquisition or disposal of voting rights

P

An acquisition or disposal of qualifying financial instruments which may result in the acquisition of shares already issued to which voting rights are attached

An acquisition or disposal of instruments with similar economic effect to qualifying financial instruments

An event changing the breakdown of voting rights

Other (please specify):

3. Full name of person(s) subject to the notification obligation:

Aviva plc & its subsidiaries

4. Full name of shareholder(s) (if different from 3.):

Registered Holder:

BNY Norwich Union Nominees Limited 1,270,448* 

Chase (GA Group) Nominees Limited 11,789,007*

Chase Nominees Limited 720,050*

*denotes direct interest

5. Date of the transaction and date on which the threshold is crossed or reached:

24 July 2013

6. Date on which issuer notified:

25 July 2013

7. Threshold(s) that is/are crossed or reached:

0% to 3% Change at Direct Interest Level

8. Notified details:

A: Voting rights attached to shares

Class/type ofshares

if possible usingthe ISIN CODE

Situation previousto the triggeringtransaction

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

NumberofShares

NumberofVotingRights

Numberof shares

Number of votingrights

% of voting rights

Direct

Indirect

Direct

Indirect

Ordinary 1p Shares

GB00B3Y5L754

N/A

N/A

13,779,505

13,779,505

Not disclosable

3.12%

 Not disclosable

B: Qualifying Financial Instruments

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financialinstrument

Expirationdate

Exercise/ConversionPeriod

Number of votingrights that may beacquired if theinstrument isexercised/ converted.

% of votingrights

N/A

C: Financial Instruments with similar economic effect to Qualifying Financial Instruments

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financialinstrument

Exerciseprice

Expirationdate

Exercise/Conversionperiod

Number of votingrights instrumentrefers to

% of voting rights

None

Nominal

Delta

Total (A+B+C)

Number of voting rights

Percentage of voting rights

13,779,505

3.12%%

9. Chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights and/or thefinancial instruments are effectively held, if applicable:

The voting rights are managed and controlled by Aviva Investors Global Services Limited, with the following chain of controlled undertakings:-

Aviva Investors Global Services Limited:

·; Aviva plc (Parent Company)

·; Aviva Group Holdings Limited (wholly owned subsidiary of Aviva plc)

·; Aviva Investors Holdings Limited (wholly owned subsidiary of Aviva Group Holdings Limited)

·; Aviva Investors Global Services Limited (wholly owned subsidiary of Aviva Investors Holdings Limited)

Proxy Voting:

10. Name of the proxy holder:

See Section 4

11. Number of voting rights proxy holder will cease to hold:

12. Date on which proxy holder will cease to hold voting rights:

13. Additional information:

Figures are based on a total number of voting rights of 442,112,768, as per the Company's Result of AGM Announcement of 22 May 2013.

14. Contact name:

David Mackney, CFO

15. Contact telephone number:

+44 (0) 118 938 0015