Financial and Corporate Programme

Review of positioning and messaging

Verona Pharma plc is a biotechnology company dedicated to the research, discovery and development of drugs for the treatment of chronic respiratory and inflammatory diseases, such as asthma. The Company appointed College Hill in July to manage its financial calendar and raise its profile both with financial and industry media.

Objectives

• Establish the Company’s current position and business objectives – current and in the medium to long term
• To gain more visibility for the Company and management within the investor community to help generate interest and improve the share price
• To raise the Company’s lead programme further with the pharma and biotech industry to highlight its quality and commercial potential to support ongoing licensing negotiations.

Our Approach

• A brainstorming meeting with Verona's management team was held, going through the detailed corporate presentation, to establish the key messages to be communicated to a variety of difference audiences
• A brief messaging document was created and refined with management
• A detailed PR plan was drawn up based on the newsflow calendar and focusing on multiple contact programmes
• The team has advised on the structure and content of forthcoming announcements to ensure consistency of messaging and form, as well as the best timing for results
• A series of media interviews and meetings have already been put in place to coincide with the announcement of the interim results. The aim is to build up a collection of media contacts who know the Company and will seek opinions from the Chairman and CEO in more general generic sector pieces.

Results

We have started the process of presenting Verona in a sharper and more targeted way, in keeping with a larger quoted company. Contacts within the media are being built and are already resulting in positive coverage, e.g., inclusion in a double page spread in the business section of the Independent on Sunday. Analysts have started enquiring about the Company and these requests will form the basis of a future analyst contact programme.

Visit the Verona website

Client Endorsement

Clive Page, Chairman, Verona, said: “The College Hill team has been proactive from the word ‘go’. They have been in regular contact, supplied good advice both on the content of our releases and the best media targets – business and industry. They have also quickly established their business media credentials by creating an opportunity to be quoted in big sector piece in a national newspaper. We look forward to working with the team going forward.”

August 2010

For further information:

Melanie Toyne-Sewell
Head of Financial Communications, Life Sciences
+44 (0)20 7457 2020
melanie.toynesewell[at]collegehill.com

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