Verona Pharma Appoints Dr. Desiree Luthman As Vice President Of Regulatory Affairs

LONDON, June 22, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verona Pharma plc (AIM:VRP) (NASDAQ:VRNA) (“Verona Pharma”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for respiratory diseases, today announces the appointment of Desiree Luthman, DDS to the Company’s executive team as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs.

Dr. Luthman’s experience during the last two decades includes a series of roles leading regulatory affairs teams and strategies for pharmaceutical products spanning from early development to post-approval marketing. Throughout her career, Dr. Luthman has held regulatory positions at large global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Celgene and AstraZeneca. Prior to joining Verona Pharma, Dr. Luthman directed regulatory activities related to pulmonary disease at Sanofi and most recently led their regulatory team through the FDA approval of dupilumab for atopic dermatitis in the United States. Dr. Luthman earned her Doctor in Dental Sciences from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.

“We welcome Desiree to our growing Verona Pharma team,” said Jan-Anders Karlsson, PhD, CEO of Verona Pharma. “She has an accomplished track record of working closely with the FDA and EMA on behalf of international healthcare companies to achieve key regulatory milestones. Her vast experience will be instrumental as we advance our regulatory plans in the U.S. and Europe under her leadership in our effort to deliver important new therapies to patients with respiratory diseases.”

About Verona Pharma plc

Verona Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercialising innovative therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases with significant unmet medical needs.

Verona Pharma’s product candidate, RPL554, is a first-in-class, inhaled, dual inhibitor of the enzymes phosphodiesterase 3 and 4 that acts as both a bronchodilator and an anti-inflammatory agent in a single compound. Verona Pharma is developing RPL554 for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis (CF), and potentially asthma.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from our expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements regarding advancing our regulatory plans in the U.S. and Europe and delivering new therapies to patients with respiratory diseases.

These and other important factors under the caption “Risk Factors” in our final prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on April 28, 2017 relating to our Registration Statement on Form F-1, and our other reports filed with the SEC, could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

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