Full Press Release Details
Akari Therapeutics, Plc Announces
YORK and LONDON, February 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Akari Therapeutics, Plc (Nasdaq: AKTX),
a biopharmaceutical company focused on innovative therapeutics to treat orphan autoimmune and inflammatory diseases where the
complement and/or leukotriene systems are implicated, today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with
certain accredited investors, the majority of whom are existing investors of the Company, including Dr. Ray Prudo,
Akari's Chairman, to receive gross proceeds of approximately $6 million through the private placement of its
In connection with the offering, the
Company will issue unregistered American Depository Shares (ADSs) at a purchase price of $1.70 per ADS. Additionally,
for each ADS purchased by investors, the investors will receive an unregistered warrant to purchase one-half ADS. The warrants
will have an exercise price of $2.20 per ADS, will be exercisable upon their issuance and will expire five years from
the issuance date. The closing of the offering is expected to take place during or before the week of February 24, 2020, subject
to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
Paulson Investment Company, LLC, is
acting as the exclusive placement agent in connection with this offering.
The ADS and warrants described above
are being offered in a private placement under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Act"),
and Regulation D promulgated thereunder and, along with the ADSs issuable upon exercise of the warrants, have not been registered
under the Act, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration with the SEC or an applicable
exemption from such registration requirements.
This press release shall not constitute
an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein. There shall not be any offer, solicitation
of an offer to buy, or sale of securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offering, solicitation, or sale would be
unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
About Akari Therapeutics
is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing inhibitors of acute and chronic inflammation, specifically for the treatment
of rare and orphan diseases, in particular those where the complement (C5) or leukotriene (LTB4) systems, or both complement and
leukotrienes together, play a primary role in disease progression. Akari's lead drug candidate, nomacopan (formerly known as Coversin),
is a C5 complement inhibitor that also independently and specifically inhibits leukotriene B4 (LTB4). Nomacopan is currently being
clinically evaluated in four indications: bullous pemphigoid (BP), atopic keratoconjunctivitis (AKC), thrombotic microangiopathy
(TMA), and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). Akari believes that the dual action of nomacopan on both C5 and LTB4 may
be beneficial in AKC and BP. Akari is also developing other tick derived proteins, including longer acting versions.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Certain statements in this press release
constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
regarding, among other things, statements related to the offering, the expected gross proceeds and the expected closing of the
offering. 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 therefrom; difficulties enrolling patients in our clinical trials; our
ability to enter into collaborative, licensing, and other commercial relationships and on terms commercially reasonable to us;
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 departure of our former Chief Executive Officers and other
executive officers; risks associated with the SEC investigation; 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.