Akari Therapeutics to Present Abstract on Potential Once Weekly PAS-Coversin at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Socie...
November 03 2016 - 8:00AM
Akari Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKTX), an emerging growth,
clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today that an
abstract has been accepted at the 58th Annual Meeting of the
American Society of Hematology in San Diego, CA, from December 3-6,
2016. Abstract publication number 5900 entitled, “Therapeutic
Development of Complement C5 inhibitor CoversinTM with Extended
Half-life via PASylation®,” details the modifications made to
extend the half-life of Coversin from a self-administered
once-daily subcutaneous injection to potential weekly dosing for
enhanced patient convenience. The abstract authors are Miles
Nunn, Chief Scientific Officer of Akari Therapeutics and Arne
Skerra, Chairman & Founder of XL-protein GmbH. The
abstract also provides an update on the first PNH patient on
unmodified Coversin therapy who is eculizumab resistant. This
patient has now been treated for more than 8 months and continues
to respond well to treatment.
PASylation® entails modifying Coversin, a recombinant small
protein (17kDa), by adding a 600 amino acid proline/alanine/ serine
(PAS) N-terminal fusion tag to generate PAS-Coversin (68kDa). The
unstructured and uncharged PAS polypeptide increases the apparent
molecular size to approximately 720kDa, slowing kidney clearance
and extending the half-life. In mouse models, subcutaneously
delivered PAS-Coversin was 100% bioavailable with a 52-fold
increase in half-life compared to unmodified Coversin. In
vitro complement lytic and C5 binding assays indicate PAS-Coversin
inhibits complement C5 as potently as unmodified Coversin.
Abstracts for the conference are available online
at http://www.hematology.org/Annual-Meeting/.
Additionally, Akari will host an Analyst & Investor
Symposium on Saturday, December 3, 2016 at 6:30pm PT at the Hotel
Indigo in San Diego. The company will provide an update on
its development pipeline. Reprints of the oral presentation
and symposium slides will all be made available for download from
the Company's website, http://www.akaritx.com following
the presentations at ASH.
About Akari Therapeutics Plc
Akari is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical
company focused on the development and commercialization of
innovative therapeutics to treat orphan autoimmune and inflammatory
diseases. Akari’s lead drug, Coversin is a second-generation
complement inhibitor that acts on complement component-C5,
preventing release of C5a and formation of C5b-9 (also known as the
membrane attack complex or MAC). C5 inhibition is growing in
importance in a range of rare autoimmune diseases related to
dysregulation of the complement component of the immune system,
including Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH), atypical
Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS), and Guillain Barré syndrome
(GBS).
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: 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;
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 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed
on March 23, 2016. 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.
Contact:
Investor Contact:
The Trout Group
Lee M. Stern, CFA
lstern@troutgroup.com
646–378–2922
Media Contact:
Susan Forman / Laura Radocaj
Dian Griesel Int'l.
(212) 825-3210
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