Vernalis & Servier Achieve Research Milestone

20 September 2012

LSE: VER

Vernalis and Servier Achieve Research Milestone

in First Oncology Collaboration

Vernalis plc and Servier today announce the achievement of a pre-clinical milestone in the first of their three oncology drug discovery collaborations. Vernalis will receive a payment of €1.0m from Servier in recognition of this achievement.

This first collaboration with Servier was initiated in May 2007 and expanded in October 2011 and is focussed on developing three promising oncology targets. The collaboration utilises Vernalis' proprietary structure and fragment-based drug discovery platform and Vernalis receives fees and research milestones along with a potential share in the downstream success of the product. Financial terms are not disclosed.

Ian Garland, CEO of Vernalis commented: "We are delighted to achieve this milestone which underlines the success of this collaboration".

Bernard Marchand, PhD, General Manager of Servier Discovery Research, added: "We are very pleased to have reached a new step in the development of a compound addressing a very promising target in oncology."

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Notes to Editors

About ServierServier is the leading independent French pharmaceutical company, established in 1954 by its founder, Jacques Servier, M.D., Pharm.D. The group is established in 140 countries and 90% of Servier products are prescribed out of France. Sales turnover in 2011 rose to 3.9 billion euros. Almost 25% of Servier's turnover is invested in Research and Development. The Servier Group counts 19 International Centers of Therapeutic Research, and its principal therapeutic research orientations are cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, neuropsychiatric disorders, cancer, and osteoarticular diseases.

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 eight 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.