Full Press Release Details
Akari Therapeutics Receives Notice Related
to Delay in 20-F Filing
NEW YORK and LONDON, May 21, 2018 - Akari
Therapeutics, Plc (NASDAQ: AKTX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapeutics
to treat orphan autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, today announced that as a result of its inability to timely file its Annual
Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2017 (the "Annual Report"), on May 17, 2018 it received a notice
from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("Nasdaq") that the Company is not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1)
for continued listing. Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) requires Nasdaq-listed companies to timely file all periodic reports. Akari
intends to regain compliance with Nasdaq's filing requirements for continued listing.
disclosed, on May 8, 2018, our former CEO resigned. His resignation followed the results of an investigation conducted, with the
assistance of an independent law firm, which revealed that our former CEO incurred personal charges on the Company's corporate
credit cards in violation of Company policy.
The notification from Nasdaq notes that
Akari is required to submit a plan to regain compliance with Nasdaq's filing requirements for continued listing within 60
calendar days of the date of the Nasdaq notification letter. Upon acceptance of the Company's compliance plan, Nasdaq is
permitted to grant an extension of up to 180 calendar days from the Annual Report's filing due date, or until November 12,
2018, for the Company to regain compliance with Nasdaq's filing requirements for continued listing.
The notice has no immediate effect on the
listing of the Company's American Depositary Shares on Nasdaq. This announcement is made in compliance with Nasdaq Listing
Rule 5810(b) which requires prompt disclosure of receipt of a deficiency notification.
About Akari Therapeutics
Akari is a biopharmaceutical company focused
on developing inhibitors of acute and chronic inflammation, specifically the complement and the eicosanoid system for the treatment
of rare and orphan diseases, in particular those where the complement system or leukotrienes or both complement and leukotrienes
together play a primary role in disease progression. Akari's lead drug candidate Coversin is a C5 complement inhibitor currently
being evaluated in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS). In addition to its
C5 inhibitory activity, Coversin independently and specifically inhibits leukotriene B4 (LTB4) activity. Akari intends to evaluate
Coversin in two conditions, the skin and eye diseases bullous pemphigoid and atopic keratoconjunctivitis, where the dual action
of Coversin on both C5 and LTB4 may be beneficial. Akari is also developing other tick derived proteins, including long acting
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.
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, an inability or delay in obtaining required regulatory approvals for Coversin and any
other product candidates, which may result in unexpected cost expenditures; risks inherent in drug development in general; uncertainties
in obtaining successful clinical results for Coversin and any other product candidates and unexpected costs that may result therefrom;
failure to realize any value of Coversin 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 Coversin
may not be as large as expected; risks associated with the putative shareholder class action and SEC requests for information;
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; our inability to obtain additional capital on acceptable
terms, or at all; unexpected cost increases and pricing pressures; uncertainties of cash flows and inability to meet working capital
needs; 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 and in our Report on Form 6-K filed with the SEC on October 17, 2017. 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
Mary-Jane Elliott / Sukaina Virji / Nicholas Brown
Consilium Strategic Communications