Vernalis Group was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

-based

pharmaceuticals A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and rel ...

business headquartered in

Winnersh Winnersh is a large suburban village and civil parish in the borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England. The village is located around northwest of Wokingham town centre and around southeast of central Reading. It is roughly bounded by the ...

. The Vernalis name comes from the verb “to vernalise”, meaning nurture or develop, and is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''vernus'', meaning "of the

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

". Vernalis Group was originally known as Vanguard Medica, which was founded in 1991 and based in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

. Its virtualised business model involved inlicensing of compounds in pre-clinical development from pharmaceuticals companies, running clinical trials through the use of

contract research organisations In the life sciences, a contract research organization (CRO) is a company that provides support to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries in the form of research services outsourced on a contract basis. A CRO may provide ...

and sharing in downstream royalties when drugs reached the market. In 1994, Vanguard Medica entered into a deal with

SmithKline Beecham GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the tent ...

to develop SB 209509, its oral selective 5HT1D receptor agonist for the treatment of migraine, later known as VML251 and

frovatriptan Frovatriptan, sold under the brand name Frova, is a triptan drug developed by Vernalis for the treatment of migraine headaches and for short term prevention of menstrual migraine. The product is licensed to Endo Pharmaceuticals in North America ...

. Vanguard Medica acquired privately held Cerebrus in 1999, which specialised in discovering and developing therapeutics for disorders of the central nervous system. Vanguard Medica was renamed Vernalis Group in 2000, with Vernalis Research Limited and Vernalis Development Limited conducting its R&D efforts from its

facility. Vernalis Group was acquired in 2003 by

British Biotech British Biotech was a British-based biotechnology company founded as British Biotechnology Limited in 1986 by former G D Searle managers Keith McCullagh and Brian Richards. It was the first British biotech company to be publicly listed when it ...

, when Peter Fellner, the former

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Celltech Celltech Group plc was a leading British-based biotechnology business based in Slough. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History Celltech was founded by Gerard Fairtlough in 1980 with financ ...

, reversed the company into Vernalis Group. The combined group,

Vernalis plc Vernalis plc was a UK-based pharmaceuticals business headquartered in Winnersh, with research in Cambridge, and with a Berwyn, PA, US-based commercial operation, Vernalis Therapeutics Inc., focusing on the sales and marketing of slow-release f ...

, with Peter Fellner as

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and Simon Sturge, the former

of privately held RiboTargets Holdings plc, as

, had a drug on the market,

, and a drug discovery pipeline enhanced by its acquisition of RiboTargets.

References

{{reflist 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom 2003 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct pharmaceutical companies