Akari Therapeutics Announces Effectiveness of Form S-4 & General Meeting Date of November 7, 2024 Related to Peak Bio Merger

Akari Therapeutics, Plc recently announced the effectiveness of the Form S-4, originally filed with the SEC on September 13, 2024, related to the merger of Akari Therapeutics, Plc and Peak Bio, Inc. The Form S-4 was declared effective by the SEC on October 11, 2024 allowing the company to definitively schedule the General Meeting to be held in relation to the merger. The General Meeting will be held at 9:00 AM Eastern Time on Thursday, November 7, 2024, at the company’s offices in London.

“I am so excited to be in the homestretch related to the merger of our two companies,” said Samir Patel, MD, Akari’s Interim President and CEO. “With the support of our shareholders at the General Meeting, we will finally be able to execute against the strategy for the combined entity, with renewed focus on the Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) and Geography Atrophy (GA) platforms. In addition, pending shareholder approval, upon close of the merger and based on our current calculations, we believe we will be able to remedy our Nasdaq shareholder deficiency matter.”

On March 5, 2024, Akari and Peak Bio announced a definitive agreement to merge as equals in an all-stock transaction. The combined entity will operate as Akari Therapeutics, Plc, which is expected to continue to be listed and trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market as AKTX. Under the terms of the agreement, Peak Bio stockholders will receive a number of Akari ordinary shares (represented by American Depositary Shares) for each share of Peak Bio stock they own, as determined on the basis of the exchange ratio described in the merger agreement. The exchange is expected to result in implied equity ownership in the combined company of approximately 50% for Akari shareholders and approximately 50% for Peak Bio stockholders on a fully diluted basis, subject to adjustment under certain circumstances, including based on each party’s relative level of net cash at the closing of the proposed transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including approval by the shareholders of both companies.

Akari Therapeutics, Plc (Nasdaq: AKTX) is a biotechnology company developing advanced therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Akari’s lead asset, investigational nomacopan, is a bispecific recombinant inhibitor of complement C5 activation and leukotriene B4 (LTB4) activity. The company is conducting pre-clinical research of long-acting PAS-nomacopan in geographic atrophy (GA). For more information, visit akaritx.com.

Peak Bio (OTC: PKBO) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapeutics addressing significant unmet needs in the areas of oncology and inflammation. The Peak Bio pipeline includes an antibody-drug-conjugate (ADC) platform that includes novel toxins and linkers coupled with important cancer antibody targets and a Phase 2-ready neutrophil elastase inhibitor for alpha1 anti-trypsin deficiency disorder (AATD). For more information, visit peak-bio.com.