NEW YORK and LONDON, May 21, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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.
As previously 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.
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 versions.
