NEW YORK and LONDON, Nov. 03, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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.