Vernalis & Servier achieve 2 Research Milestones

4 August 2014

LSE: VER

Vernalis and Servier achieve two Research Milestones

in their Oncology Collaborations

Vernalis plc and Servier are pleased to announce the achievement of two milestones in their oncology drug discovery collaborations, triggering a payment of €0.75m to Vernalis.

Vernalis and Servier have been working in partnership since initiating their first collaboration in May 2007. The collaborations utilise Vernalis' proprietary fragment and structure-based drug discovery platform on a number of oncology targets, of which only Bcl-2 is disclosed. Under the collaborations Vernalis receives fees and a share in the future success of any products in the form of development milestones and royalties on sales. Financial terms are not disclosed.

Ian Garland, CEO of Vernalis commented: "We are delighted to achieve these milestones, recognising our very successful partnership with Servier and we look forward to further success from this relationship."

Jean Pierre Abastado, Head of the Center for Therapeutic Innovation in Oncology at Servier, said: "Small molecules tailored against specific targets can have very high therapeutic potential. These new successes with Vernalis demonstrate the ability of this partnership to identify and characterize promising compounds which further extend Servier portfolio to treat cancer patients."

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About Servier

Founded in 1954, Servier is an independent French pharmaceutical research company. Its development is based on the continuous pursuit of innovation in the therapeutic areas of cardiovascular-, metabolic-, neurologic-, psychiatric-, bone- and joint diseases as well as cancer. In 2013, the company recorded a turnover of 4.2 billion euros. 91% of Servier drugs are consumed outside France. 27% of turnover from Servier drugs were reinvested in Research and Development in 2013. With a strong international presence in 140 countries, Servier employs more than 21 000 people worldwide. The Servier Group contributed 35% to the 2013 French trade surplus in the pharmaceuticals sector.

More information is available at: www.servier.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 also 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 have been endorsed over the last five years by collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies, including AKP, Biogen Idec, Endo, GSK, 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.