Verona Pharma Reports First Quarter 2021 Financial Results and Provides Corporate Update ENHANCE Phase 3 program enrollment continues on track to complete in 2H21 Board strengthened with NED appointment of Lisa Deschamps

Verona Pharma Reports First Quarter 2021 Financial

Results and Provides Corporate Update

ENHANCE Phase 3 program enrollment continues

on track to complete in 2H21

Board strengthened with NED appointment of Lisa

Conference call today at 9:00 a.m. EDT / 2:00

LONDON and RALEIGH, N.C., April 29, 2021

- Verona Pharma plc (Nasdaq: VRNA) ("Verona Pharma" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical

company focused on respiratory diseases, announces its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2021, and provides a corporate

"The first quarter of 2021 set a positive

tone for what we expect to be another exciting year of substantial progress for Verona Pharma," said David Zaccardelli, Pharm. D.,

President and Chief Executive Officer. "Patient recruitment is ongoing in our Phase 3 ENHANCE ("Ensifentrine as a Novel inHAled

Nebulized COPD thErapy") clinical program. Based on our projections, we continue to expect to complete enrollment in both studies

in the second half of 2021 and to report top-line data from ENHANCE-2 in the first half of 2022 and from ENHANCE-1 in the second half

"We have already reported results from two

clinical studies this year. In February, we reported positive Phase 2 results with the pressurized metered-dose inhaler ("pMDI")

formulation of ensifentrine in moderate to severe COPD patients, and, last week, we reported that data from a pilot study with pMDI ensifentrine

showed that ensifentrine added on to standard of care was well tolerated in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The study was not powered

to identify statistically significant efficacy outcomes and no benefit with ensifentrine added on to standard of care was observed.

In addition to this clinical progress, we strengthened

our board with the Non-Executive Director appointment of Lisa Deschamps, Senior Vice President, Chief Business Officer, Novartis Gene

Therapies. Lisa's strategic and commercial expertise will be valuable as we progress ensifentrine through Phase 3 trials and prepare

for commercialization."

Quarter and Recent Highlights

Upcoming Key Milestones

The Company's near-term milestones include:

First Quarter 2021 Financial Results

Call and Webcast Information

Verona Pharma will host an investment

community conference call at 9:00 a.m. EDT / 2:00 p.m. BST on Thursday, April 29, 2021 to discuss the first quarter 2021

financial results and the corporate update.

Analysts and investors may participate by dialing

one of the following numbers and reference conference ID 7429971:

A live webcast will be available on the

Events and Presentations link on the Investors page of the Company's website, www.veronapharma.com, and an audio replay will be

available there for 30 days. An electronic copy of the first quarter 2021 results press release will also be made available today on

the Company's website. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of

the Company's securities, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer,

solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that jurisdiction.

For further information please contact:

Verona Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical

company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases with significant unmet

medical needs. If successfully developed and approved, Verona Pharma's product candidate, ensifentrine, has the potential to be

the first therapy for the treatment of respiratory diseases that combines bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory activities in one compound.

The Company is evaluating nebulized ensifentrine in its Phase 3 clinical program ENHANCE ("Ensifentrine as a Novel inHAled Nebulized

COPD thErapy") for COPD maintenance treatment. Two additional formulations of ensifentrine are in Phase 2 development for the treatment

of COPD: dry powder inhaler ("DPI") and pressurized metered-dose inhaler ("pMDI"). Ensifentrine has potential

applications in cystic fibrosis, asthma and other respiratory diseases. For more information, please visit www.veronapharma.com.

Verona Pharma is closely monitoring the potential

impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its operations and clinical trials, in particular the timelines and costs of its Phase 3 ENHANCE clinical

program. The pandemic and government and other measures in response are impacting a number of clinical trial activities and the Company

will provide an update if it becomes aware of any meaningful disruption caused by the pandemic to its clinical trials.

To help protect the health and safety of the patients,

caregivers and healthcare professionals involved in its clinical trials, as well as its employees and independent contractors, the Company

continues to follow guidance from the FDA and other health regulatory authorities regarding the conduct of clinical trials during the

COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the safety of study participants, minimize risks to study integrity, and maintain compliance with good clinical

Verona Pharma is closely monitoring

activities at the Company's contract manufacturers associated with clinical supply for the ongoing clinical trials, and is

satisfied that appropriate plans and procedures are in place to ensure uninterrupted future supply of ensifentrine to the clinical

trial sites, subject to potential limitations on their operations and on the supply chain due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company

is continuing to monitor this situation and will provide an update if it becomes aware of any meaningful disruption caused by the

pandemic to the clinical supply of ensifentrine for its clinical trials.

Verona Pharma has also implemented measures to

help keep the Company's employees, families, and local communities healthy and safe. All employees are working remotely and all

business travel has been restricted.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements.

All statements contained in this press release with respect to our operational review, outlook and financial review that do not relate

to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the

development of ensifentrine and the progress and timing of clinical trials and data, the goals and design of clinical trials, the potential

for ensifentrine to be the first therapy for the treatment of respiratory diseases to combine bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory effects

in one compound, the potential of ensifentrine in the treatment of COPD, cystic fibrosis, asthma and other respiratory diseases, as well

as the potential of the DPI and pMDI formulations of ensifentrine, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and operations

and the Company's future financial results, the funding we expect to become available under the $30.0 million debt financing facility and from cash receipts

from U.K. tax credits, and the sufficiency of cash and cash equivalents.

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, the following: our

limited operating history; our need for additional funding to complete development and commercialization of ensifentrine, which may

not be available and which may force us to delay, reduce or eliminate our development or commercialization efforts; the reliance of

our business on the success of ensifentrine, our only product candidate under development; economic, political, regulatory and other

risks involved with international operations; the lengthy and expensive process of clinical drug development, which has an uncertain

outcome; serious adverse, undesirable or unacceptable side effects associated with ensifentrine, which could adversely affect our

ability to develop or commercialize ensifentrine; potential delays in enrolling patients, which could adversely affect our research

and development efforts and the completion of our clinical trials; we may not be successful in developing ensifentrine for multiple

indications; our ability to obtain approval for and commercialize ensifentrine in multiple major pharmaceutical markets; misconduct

or other improper activities by our employees, consultants, principal investigators, and third-party service providers; our future

growth and ability to compete depends on retaining our key personnel and recruiting additional qualified personnel; material

differences between our "top-line" data and final data; our reliance on third parties, including clinical research

organizations, clinical investigators, manufacturers and suppliers, and the risks related to these parties' ability to

successfully develop and commercialize ensifentrine; and lawsuits related to patents covering ensifentrine and the potential for our

patents to be found invalid or unenforceable; changes in our tax rates, unavailability of certain tax credits or reliefs or exposure

to additional tax liabilities or assessments could affect our profitability, and audits by tax authorities could result in

additional tax payments for prior periods; and our vulnerability to natural disasters, global economic factors and other unexpected

events, including health epidemics or pandemics like the COVID-19 pandemic, which has and may continue to adversely impact our

business. These and other important factors under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the

year ended December 31, 2020, 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