Director Dealings: Vernalis builds capital for work on Parkinson's drug

Its in-house drug pipeline was strengthened by the addition of a potential treatment for Parkinson's Disease which will see further development work in the months ahead.

Vernalis also said it was in a strong financial position, and at the end of June it had 27.1 million in cash resources and was debt-free.

Following the update, two directors went into the market to increase their holdings.

Chief executive Ian Garland and chief financial officer David Mackney each bought 50,000 shares at 37p each.

They now own 141,953 and 68,390 shares respectively in the company, which has seen its shares as high as 50p at one point this year.

Peter Weller, finance director of IT group Nexus Management, has bought 250,000 at 0.175p each and now holds 1.25 million.

Several directors at pubs group Enterprise Inns have increased their holdings following a trading update. Chairman Hubert Reid bought 55,000 shares to take his total to 300,000, and chief executive Ted Tuppen bought 103,131 and now holds 3.3 million shares.

Chief operating officer Simon Townsend and chief financial officer Neil Smith each bought 25,000 shares. All the board members paid 41.92p a share.

John Rogers, chief financial officer at J Sainsbury, has bought 17,000 shares at 285.7p to increase his stake to 192,342 shares.

Laurie McIlwee, finance director at Tesco, has purchased 13,617 ordinary shares at 364.8p and now holds 340,215.

Two directors at property group Hammerson have increasing their holdings following recent results which showed a fall in profits.

Chief executive David Atkins bought 16,000, and non-executive Terry Duddy purchased 20,000. They each paid around 405p for the shares.

Mike Tye, deputy chief executive of pubs group Spirit, has more than doubled his holding in the company with the purchase of 113,235 shares at 43.9p each. He now holds 183,127 shares.

The wife of Mark Hoad, finance director of BBA Aviation, has bought 10,000 shares at 172p per share. The couple's holding is now 89,052 shares.

Robin Gibson, a non-executive director at Mulberry Group, has bought 2,000 shares at 1,470p each to increase his holding to 7,029 shares. The company was recently named as the world's best-performing fashion retail share over the past year, with predictions from some analysts of further gains driven by growth in overseas markets.