Full Press Release Details
Akari Therapeutics Appoints Experienced Life Sciences Entrepreneur
Samir R. Patel, M.D. to Board of Directors
NEW YORK and BOSTON, December 1, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Akari
Therapeutics, Plc (Nasdaq: AKTX), a late-stage biotechnology company developing advanced therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases,
today announced the appointment of experienced life sciences entrepreneur Samir R. Patel, M.D. to the Akari Board of Directors.
is a long-time investor in Akari and brings to us broad life sciences experience and a track record of multiple successful startup companies.
I am pleased to welcome him to our Board of Directors at this important time in our company's development," said Ray
Prudo, M.D., Akari Chairman.
am truly honored to have this opportunity to further demonstrate my commitment to advance Akari by partnering with other Board members
and management to help realize the promise of the company's novel lead asset, nomacopan, on behalf of patients and our shareholders,"
Dr. Patel currently serves as founder and principal of PranaBio Investments,
LLC, a firm providing consulting, strategic advisory, and investment services for small cap biotechnology companies. He is also a consultant
to GE Global Research, GE's innovation engine that is creating novel products and solutions across several sectors including biomanufacturing
He has more than 20 years of experience in life sciences including
co-founding Digital Therapeutics, LLC, a startup advancing a therapy for scleroderma and other rheumatic diseases, and SPEC Pharma, LLC,
a company that develops and manufactures injectables used in rheumatology applications. Previously, Dr. Patel held multiple roles in Medical
Affairs with Centocor, Inc. (now Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, part of Johnson & Johnson). He holds multiple patents,
has been an author on several publications and has been an investigator in numerous clinical research studies.
Dr. Patel received his medical degree from the Medical College of Ohio
(University of Toledo) in Toledo, Ohio, and completed his internal medicine internship and residency, as well as a rheumatology fellowship,
at University of New Mexico School of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals.
About Akari Therapeutics
Akari Therapeutics, plc (Nasdaq: AKTX) is a biotechnology company developing
advanced therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Akari's lead asset, investigational nomacopan, is a bispecific recombinant
inhibitor of complement C5 activation and leukotriene B4 (LTB4) activity. Akari's pipeline includes a Phase 3 clinical trial program
investigating nomacopan for severe pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant-related thrombotic microangiopathy (HSCT-TMA). Akari has
been granted Orphan Drug, Fast Track and Rare Pediatric Disease designations from the FDA for nomacopan for the treatment of pediatric
HSCT-TMA and orphan drug designation from the European Commission for treatment in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Akari's
pipeline also includes a clinical program developing nomacopan for adult HSCT-TMA and pre-clinical research of long-acting PAS-nomacopan
in geographic atrophy (GA). For more information about Akari, please visit akaritx.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect
our current views about our plans, intentions, expectations, strategies, and prospects, which are based on the information currently available
to us and on assumptions we have made. Although we believe that our plans, intentions, expectations, strategies, and prospects as reflected
in or suggested by those forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that the plans, intentions, expectations,
or strategies will be attained or achieved. Furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking
statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond our control. Such risks and uncertainties for our company
include, but are not limited to: needs for additional capital to fund our operations, our ability to continue as a going concern; uncertainties
of cash flows and inability to meet working capital needs; an inability or delay in obtaining required regulatory approvals for nomacopan
and any other product candidates, which may result in unexpected cost expenditures; our ability to obtain orphan drug designation in additional
indications; risks inherent in drug development in general; uncertainties in obtaining successful clinical results for nomacopan and any
other product candidates and unexpected costs that may result there; difficulties enrolling patients in our clinical trials; failure to
realize any value of nomacopan and any other product candidates developed and being developed in light of inherent risks and difficulties
involved in successfully bringing product candidates to market; inability to develop new product candidates and support existing product
candidates; the approval by the FDA and EMA and any other similar foreign regulatory authorities of other competing or superior products
brought to market; risks resulting from unforeseen side effects; risk that the market for nomacopan may not be as large as expected risks
associated with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; inability to obtain, maintain and enforce patents and other intellectual property
rights or the unexpected costs associated with such enforcement or litigation; inability to obtain and maintain commercial manufacturing
arrangements with third party manufacturers or establish commercial scale manufacturing capabilities; the inability to timely source adequate
supply of our active pharmaceutical ingredients from third party manufacturers on whom the company depends; unexpected cost increases
and pricing pressures and risks and other risk factors detailed in our public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,
including our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Except as otherwise noted, these forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date of this press release and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of these statements to reflect
events or circumstances occurring after this press release. We caution investors not to place considerable reliance on the forward-looking
statements contained in this press release.
For more information