Vernalis received a further $2.5m from Genentech

4 March 2013

LSE: VER

Vernalis plc receives a further $2.5 million payment from its drug discovery

 collaboration with Genentech

Vernalis plc announced today that it has received a $2.5 million final payment under its drug discovery collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG: OTCQX: RHHBY).

The collaboration, which commenced in January 2012, aimed to discover novel small molecules against an undisclosed target utilising Vernalis' fragment and structure-based drug discovery platform. The $2.5 million final payment to Vernalis announced today is in addition to the $1.5 million milestone received under this collaboration and separately announced on 4th February 2013. Full financial terms have not been disclosed.

Ian Garland, CEO of Vernalis, commented: "We are delighted to receive this further payment which endorses the success of our Research group's work in collaboration with Genentech."

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Notes to Editors

About GenentechFounded more than 30 years ago, Genentech is a leading biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines to treat patients with serious or life-threatening medical conditions. The company, a member of the Roche Group, has headquarters in South San Francisco, California. For additional information about the company, please visit http://www.gene.com.

About Vernalis

Vernalis is a revenue generating development stage pharmaceutical company with significant expertise in drug development. The Group has one marketed product, frovatriptan for the acute treatment of migraine, an exclusive licensing agreement to develop and commercialise multiple novel products focussed on the US prescription cough/cold market as well as seven programmes in its NCE development pipeline. Vernalis has significant expertise in fragment and structure based drug discovery which it leverages to enter into collaborations with larger pharmaceutical companies. The Company's technologies, capabilities and products are endorsed by collaborations with Endo, Genentech, Lundbeck, Menarini, Novartis, Servier and Tris.

For further information about Vernalis, please visit www.vernalis.com

Vernalis Forward-Looking Statement

This news release may contain forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future events including the clinical development and regulatory clearance of the Company's products, the Company's ability to find partners for the development and commercialisation of its products, as well as the Company's future capital raising activities. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events could differ materially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors including the success of the Company's research strategies, the applicability of the discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies, the uncertainties related to the regulatory process, the ability of the Company to identify and agree beneficial terms with suitable partners for the commercialisation and/or development of its products, as well as the achievement of expected synergies from such transactions, the acceptance of frovatriptan and other products by consumers and medical professionals, the successful integration of completed mergers and acquisitions and achievement of expected synergies from such transactions, and the ability of the Company to identify and consummate suitable strategic and business combination transactions.