Verona Pharma PLC Appointment of CFO

 
TIDMVRP 
 
Verona Pharma plc 
 
                      ("Verona Pharma" or the "Company") 
 
                              Appointment of CFO 
 
26 September 2016, Cardiff - Verona Pharma plc (AIM: VRP.L), the drug 
development company focused on first-in-class medicines to treat respiratory 
diseases, announces the appointment of Piers John Morgan as Chief Financial 
Officer with effect from 26 September 2016. 
 
Mr Morgan (aged 50) is a Chartered Accountant with close to 25 years' financial 
experience, predominantly in the life sciences sector, having held both 
corporate and advisory senior positions.  He has extensive financing expertise, 
having led IPOs on AIM, NASDAQ and Euronext Paris as well as having completed 
more than 120 transactions. 
 
He was previously the CEO of C4X Discovery plc, a small molecule discovery and 
development company, where he led the company's successful IPO on London's AIM 
market in 2014. Prior to this he co-founded uniQure, a gene therapy company, 
where he spent five years as CFO leading a number of equity and debt 
transactions, including the company's $92 million IPO on NASDAQ in 2014. He has 
also held CFO roles at London listed Phytopharm, Paris listed BioAlliance 
Pharma and Arrow Therapeutics. He is currently a Non-executive Director at 
Quethera Ltd, a private gene therapy company and was previously Non-Exec 
Chairman of Trino Therapeutics. 
 
Between 1997 and 2000 he was a Director in the Ernst and Young Life Sciences M& 
A practice, where he founded the Life Sciences M&A team. Prior to this he spent 
five years as an Assistant Director at Close Brothers Corporate Finance. 
 
Commenting on the appointment, Verona Pharma's CEO, Jan-Anders Karlsson, said: 
 
"We are delighted to welcome Piers to Verona Pharma. He brings a strong track 
record and deep financial and public company experience. He joins at an 
exciting and important stage in Verona Pharma's journey. His broad experience 
and insights into international markets provide an excellent complementary 
skill set to the management team. The recent fundraising was transformational 
for the Company and will enable us to accelerate the clinical development of 
RPL554.  Preparations have started for the forthcoming Phase 2b trials, with 
first clinical dosing expected in the second quarter of 2017.  We continue to 
believe RPL554 has the potential to be an important new treatment option for 
patients with COPD and possibly cystic fibrosis." 
 
As Mr. Morgan's role is a non-board appointment, there is no further disclosure 
required under Schedule Two paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules. 
 
                                    -Ends- 
 
For further information please contact: 
 
Verona Pharma plc                      Tel: [phone] 
 
Jan-Anders Karlsson, Chief Executive 
Officer 
 
N+1 Singer                             Tel: [phone] 
 
Aubrey Powell / Jen Boorer 
 
FTI Consulting                         Tel: [phone] 
 
Simon Conway / Stephanie Cuthbert / 
Natalie Garland-Collins 
 
Notes to Editors 
 
About Verona Pharma plc 
 
Verona Pharma plc is a UK-based clinical stage biopharmaceutical company 
focused on the development of innovative prescription medicines to treat 
respiratory diseases with significant unmet medical needs, such as chronic 
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and cystic fibrosis. 
 
Verona Pharma's lead drug, RPL554, is a first-in-class drug in Phase 2 trials 
as a nebulised treatment for acute exacerbations of COPD in the hospital 
setting.  The drug is a dual phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3/4 inhibitor and 
therefore has both bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory effects, which are 
essential to the improvement of patients with COPD and asthma. 
 
Verona Pharma is also building a broader portfolio of RPL554-containing 
products to maximise its benefit to patients and its value.  This includes the 
very significant markets for COPD and asthma maintenance therapy.  The Company 
is also exploring the potential of the drug in different diseases, such as 
cystic fibrosis, where it is in pre-clinical testing and has received a Venture 
and Innovation Award from the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. 
 
 
 
END 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 26, 2016 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)