Celsus Therapeutics and Volution Immuno Pharmaceuticals Announce $75 Million Private Placement NEW YORK and LONDON

Celsus Therapeutics and Volution Immuno Pharmaceuticals

Announce $75 Million Private Placement

NEW YORK and LONDON, August 18, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -

Celsus Therapeutics Plc (NASDAQ: CLTX) and Volution Immuno Pharmaceuticals SA today announced that Celsus has entered into a securities

purchase agreement for a private placement with a select group of investors, led by Deerfield, and including Venrock, Vivo Capital,

Foresite Capital, New Enterprise Associates, QVT Financial, RA Capital Management and certain other institutional investors.

The closing of the private placement is subject to Celsus obtaining

shareholder approval of the financing transaction and the previously announced acquisition by Celsus of Volution Immuno Pharmaceuticals

at Celsus's General Shareholder Meeting on September 16, 2015, the closing of the acquisition and satisfaction of customary

closing conditions. Following the closing of the acquisition, the combined company will be renamed Akari Therapeutics Plc, and

the company expects to trade on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the ticker symbol AKTX'.

Upon the closing of the private placement, Akari expects to

receive net proceeds of approximately $70 million from the sale of ordinary shares, to be represented by American Depository Shares

(ADSs). Based on yesterday's closing bid price on NASDAQ of $0.61 per ADS, assuming an aggregate of 949,410,450 fully-diluted

shares following the closing of the acquisition, the purchase price of the financing would be equal to $1.58 per the currently

trading ADS (or $0.158 per ordinary share), representing a 159% premium to yesterday's closing bid price. The actual purchase

price per ADS upon closing is subject to adjustment based on the closing bid price on NASDAQ on the closing date of the acquisition

which will affect the number of fully diluted ordinary shares. Currently, each ADS represents 10 ordinary shares. As of September

17, 2015, the ADS ratio will adjust, such that each ADS will represent 100 ordinary shares. The ADSs to be purchased by the investors

in the financing will each represent 100 ordinary shares.

As previously announced on July 13, 2015, on a pro forma basis,

prior to giving effect to the private placement, and based upon the number of ordinary shares of Celsus to be issued in the acquisition

of Volution Immuno Pharmaceuticals, current Celsus security holders will own approximately 8.32% and current Volution Immuno Pharmaceutical

SA security holders will own approximately 91.68% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis. The private placement values

the combined entity at $150 million on a fully diluted basis prior to the completion of the private placement. The private placement

is expected to close on or about September 18, 2015.

Akari plans to use the anticipated net proceeds from the private

placement for clinical development of Coversin, Akari's lead molecule, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Coversin is a C5 inhibitor under development to treat complement-related disorders in several therapeutic areas, including hematology,

nephrology, and neurology.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and MTS Securities, LLC acted

as placement agents for the private placement.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or

the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which

such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any

The securities to be sold in the private placement have not

been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United

States absent registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") or an applicable exemption from such registration

requirements. The Company has agreed to file a registration statement with the SEC covering the resale of the ADSs (and the underlying

ordinary shares) sold in the private placement.

On July 10, 2015, Celsus entered into a Share Exchange Agreement

with RPC Pharma Limited, pursuant to which privately-held Volution Immuno Pharmaceuticals will become a wholly-owned subsidiary

of Celsus. The combined company will focus on development and commercialization of life-transforming treatments for a range of

rare and orphan autoimmune and inflammatory diseases caused by dysregulation of complement C5, including paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria

(PNH) and atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS). Upon closing of the transaction, Celsus expects to be renamed Akari Therapeutics

Plc. Coversin is a recombinant small protein derived from a protein discovered in the saliva of the Ornithodoros moubata tick,

where it plays an important role in modulating the host immune system to allow the parasite to feed without alerting the host to

its presence or provoking an immune response. Coversin is under development to treat complement-C5 disorders in several therapeutic

areas, including hematology, nephrology, and neurology. Coversin, at 17 kDa, is much smaller than an antibody and can be self-administered

by subcutaneous injection, which we believe should provide considerable patient benefit over the current standard of care in several

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this communication regarding the proposed

business combination transaction and other contemplated transactions (including statements relating to satisfaction of the conditions

to and consummation of the proposed transaction, the expected ownership of the combined company and plans with respect to financing

for the combined company) constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities

Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act and are usually identified by the use of words such as "anticipates,"

"believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," "projects,"

"seeks," "should," "will," and variations of such words or similar expressions. We intend these forward-looking

statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities

Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act and are making this statement for purposes of complying with those safe harbor

provisions. 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.

Risks and uncertainties for Celsus and Volution and of the combined

company include, but are not limited to: inability to complete the proposed business combination transaction or the financing;

liquidity and trading market for ADSs prior to and following the consummation of the proposed business combination transaction

and the financing; costs and potential litigation associated with the proposed transaction; 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 products; 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 the combined company's products may not be as large as expected; 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; unexpected cost increases and pricing pressures; failure to obtain the necessary shareholder

approvals or to satisfy other conditions to the closing of the proposed transactions; uncertainties of cash flows and inability

to meet working capital needs; cost reductions that may not result in anticipated level of cost savings or cost reductions prior

to or after the consummation of the proposed transactions; and risks associated with the possible failure to realize certain benefits

of the proposed transactions, including future financial, tax, accounting treatment, and operating results. Many of these factors

that will determine actual results are beyond Celsus's, Volution's, or the combined company's ability to control or predict.

For a discussion of the factors that may cause Celsus, Volution

or the combined organization's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results,

performance or achievements expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements, or for a discussion of risks associated with

the ability of Celsus and Volution to complete the acquisition and the effect of the acquisition on the business of Celsus, Volution

and the combined organization, see "Risk Factors" beginning on page 13 of the definitive proxy statement and in other

filings that Celsus makes and will make with the SEC in connection with the proposed transactions. Existing and prospective investors

are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The statements

made in this press release speak only as of the date stated herein, and subsequent events and developments may cause our expectations

and beliefs to change. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, we do not intend, nor do we undertake any obligation,

to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this news release to reflect subsequent information, events, results

or circumstances or otherwise. While we may elect to update these forward-looking statements publicly at some point in the future,

we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as

Important Information and Where to Find It

Celsus filed the definitive proxy statement and other relevant

documents with the SEC in connection with the solicitation of proxies for the General Meeting and mailed the definitive proxy statement