About Vernalis
Vernalis is a Healthcare company based in Wokingham (United Kingdom) founded in 1999, and was acquired by HitGen in October 2020. Vernalis is engaged in structure-based drug discovery collaborations. It operates on a Professional Services model. The company has 85 employees. Vernalis has completed 4 acquisitions, including Cita NeuroPharmaceuticals, Ionix Pharmaceuticals and Pintex. Its website vernalis.com draws about 12 thousand monthly visits. Vernalis offers products and services including Fragment-Based Drug Discovery, DNA Encoded Library Technology, and Protein Science. Its focus areas include Biotechnology and Drug Discovery. Its legal entity is Vernalis (R&D) Limited.
Company details
Vernalis is involved in enabling drug discovery programs through structure-based and fragment-based approaches. Expertise is applied in protein science, hit identification, and lead optimization across therapeutic areas like oncology and inflammatory diseases. Collaborations are established with various organizations to tackle challenging targets. Services are provided in-house at fully equipped laboratories in Cambridge, UK, covering biophysics, chemistry, and cell biology. Solutions are tailored for both short-term and long-term projects to deliver pre-clinical candidates.
- Headquarters Wokingham, United Kingdom
- Employees 85
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsHealthcare
- Emailβ’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’
- Phoneβ’β’β’β’ β’β’β’β’
- Website vernalis.com
- Social LinkedIn
- Acquired by HitGen (Oct 2020)
- Legal Name Vernalis (R&D) Limited
- Annual Revenue$12.23 K (USD)-39as on Dec 31, 2020
- Net Profit-$3.45 K (USD)58as on Dec 31, 2020
- Latest Funding Round$57.82M (USD), Post-IPO
Apr 2016
- InvestorsHitGen
& 5 more
- Employee Count85
- Investments & AcquisitionsCita NeuroPharmaceuticals
& 3 more
- Acquired by
Products & Services of Vernalis
Vernalis offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Fragment-Based Drug Discovery, DNA Encoded Library Technology, and Protein Science.
Fragment-based methods are used for drug discovery programs.
DNA Encoded Library technology supports innovative drug discovery.
Protein expression and purification services are provided expertly.
Funding Insights of Vernalis
- Total Rounds 3
- Last Round Post-IPO β $57.82M
- First Round $73.92M
(Nov 2005)
- Investors Count 4
All 3 funding rounds of Vernalis with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2016 | $57.82M | Post-IPO | β | β | |
| Mar 2016 | $301,382 | Grant | β | β | |
| Nov 2005 | $73.92M | Post-IPO | β | β | β |
6 investors in total: 5 institutional and 1 angel.
Investors in Vernalis
Vernalis has secured backing from 6 investors, including institutional and angel investors. Prominent investors backing the company include HitGen, Ligand Pharmaceuticals and European Union.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Diversified investment portfolios are managed for clients by the firm. | 2014 | woodfordfunds.com | Swindon, United Kingdom | |
Fund based investment management firm and fund of funds focused on multiple sectors | 1935 | invescomutualfund.com | Mumbai, India | |
Government entites focused on freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law, promoting peace and stability | 1958 | europa.eu | Brussels, Belgium | |
Pharmaceutical drugs are manufactured and developed in the United States. | 1987 | ligand.com | San Diego, United States | |
IG Ian Garland | unknown_e2a6465a034047248 | |||
DNA-encoded libraries are developed for drug discovery applications. | 2012 | hitgen.com | Lanzhou, China |
Investor details for Vernalis
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
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People of Vernalis
32 people are tracked at Vernalis (6 in leadership, 26 in team); the tracked headcount is 85.
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Mike Wood | Managing Director | Leadership |
Karen Benwell | Head of Biochemical Sciences and DMPK | Leadership |
Lisa Baker | Director Of Biology | Leadership |
Andy Massey | Head of Oncology and Cell Biology | Leadership |
Clare Searle | Joint Site Lead & Finance Director | Leadership |
Sam Carford | HR Director | Leadership |
Rod Hubbard | Senior Fellow | Team |
Ben Davis | Research Fellow, Biology | Team |
Claire Robinson | HR Manager | Team |
Samantha Newland | Senior Protein Scientist | Team |
Mark Williamson | Principal Scientist | Team |
Natasha Harper | Research Associate II Of Molecular Biology And Oncology | Team |
Hayley Angove | Senior Team Leader, Assay Technology | Team |
Lawrence Micallef | Infrastructure Manager | Team |
Nicolas Foloppe | Principal Scientist | Team |
Siying Fawcett-Zhong | Senior Scientist | Team |
Manoj Ramjee | Research Fellow | Team |
Carrie-Anne Molyneaux | Senior Scientist 2 | Team |
Nick Davies | Medicinal Chemist | Team |
Andrew Wood | Senior Scientist 1 (oncology And Cell Biology) | Team |
12 more people are available in the full profile.
Complete people profiles for Vernalis
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Investments & Acquisitions by Vernalis
Vernalis has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 4 companies. Notable acquisitions include Cita NeuroPharmaceuticals, Ionix Pharmaceuticals and Pintex.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Small molecule neuropharmaceuticals are developed and commercialized for neurological disorders. | citaneuro.com | Mississauga, Canada | 1997 | Nov 2005 | $64.5M | |
Analgesic medicines for acute and chronic pain are developed. | ionixpharma.com | Cambridge, United Kingdom | 2001 | Jul 2005 | $21.96M | |
Provider of diversified construction equipment and machinery services | pintex.com | 1996 | Mar 2005 | β’β’β’β’ | ||
Small molecule therapeutics against cancer and infectious diseases | ribotargets.com | Abington, United States | 1997 | Oct 2003 | β’β’β’β’ |
Complete acquisition details for Vernalis
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Timeline of Vernalis
10 dated milestones of Vernalis across 21 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Vernalis is founded.
- Acquisition Acquires RiboTargets.
- Acquisition Acquires Pintex.
- Acquisition Acquires Ionix Pharmaceuticals.
- Acquisition Acquires Cita NeuroPharmaceuticals.
- Funding First funding round of $73.9M.
- IPO Lists on the stock exchange (IPO).
- Funding Latest funding round, Post-IPO, of $57.8M.
- Exit Acquired by Ligand Pharmaceuticals.
- Exit Acquired by HitGen.
Web traffic of Vernalis
The website of Vernalis (vernalis.com) receives about 11.8K visits a month.
- Monthly visits11.8K
▲ 152.3% vs previous month
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Vernalis. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vectura.com | 100% | #13,827,917 | View details | ||
| astrazeneca.com | 99% | 1.3M | #48,983 | View details | |
| eisai.com | 91% | 74.5K | #534,857 | View details | |
summitplc.com | summitplc.com | 79% | β | ||
| astx.com | 78% | 8.9K | #2,592,392 | View details | |
| β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’ | β’β’β’β’β’β’.com | β’β’% | β’.β’M | #β’β’β’β’β’ | β |
| β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’ | β’β’β’β’β’β’.com | β’β’% | β’.β’M | #β’β’β’β’β’ | β |
| β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’ | β’β’β’β’β’β’.com | β’β’% | β’.β’M | #β’β’β’β’β’ | β |
All 20 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Vernalis
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Related news about Vernalis
Complete news archive for Vernalis
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Frequently Asked Questions about Vernalis
Vernalis was founded in 1999 and raised its 1st funding round 6 years after it was founded.
Vernalis is headquartered in Wokingham, United Kingdom. It is registered at Wokingham, Berkshire, United Kingdom.
Vernalis has 85 employees.
Annual revenue of Vernalis is $12.23K as on Dec 31, 2020.
Vernalis is involved in enabling drug discovery programs through structure-based and fragment-based approaches. Expertise is applied in protein science, hit identification, and lead optimization across therapeutic areas like oncology and inflammatory diseases. Collaborations are established with various organizations to tackle challenging targets. Services are provided in-house at fully equipped laboratories in Cambridge, UK, covering biophysics, chemistry, and cell biology. Solutions are tailored for both short-term and long-term projects to deliver pre-clinical candidates.
Vernalis offers Fragment-Based Drug Discovery, DNA Encoded Library Technology, and Protein Science.
Vernalis has made 4 acquisitions, including Cita NeuroPharmaceuticals, Ionix Pharmaceuticals, and Pintex.
Vernalis has 6 investors. Key investors include HitGen, Ligand Pharmaceuticals, European Union, Invesco Mutual Fund, and Woodford Investment Management.
Vernalis operates through Vernalis (R&D) Limited.
Yes. Vernalis was acquired by HitGen in October 2020.

