Health and Healthcare

Akari Therapeutics Soars on Positive Preliminary Results

Chris Lange

Published: April 1, 2016 12:05 pm

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 11:15 am

Akari Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ: AKTX) made waves on Friday following the preliminary results of its paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) treatment. The company announced preliminary results from the first PNH patient treated with subcutaneously administered Coversin.

The patient, diagnosed with PNH and resistant to eculizumab due to a polymorphism, was started on Coversin under a clinical trial protocol approved by an EU national regulatory authority. The patient demonstrated clinical and symptomatic improvement, complement inhibition and a marked reduction of LDH (a marker of blood hemolysis).

The main objective of the eculizumab-resistance clinical trial was to provide patients who have clinically demonstrated resistance to eculizumab early access to Coversin as a potentially lifesaving alternative.

For some background: 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 PNH, atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome and Guillain Barré syndrome.

Wynne Weston-Davies, medical director of Akari Therapeutics, commented:

To our knowledge, this is the first eculizumab resistant PNH patient treated to date and we are pleased with these preliminary signs of effectiveness. Based on these preliminary results, we believe that all PNH patients with or without resistance should respond to Coversin.

Shares of Akari were trading up about 25% at $17.46 on Friday, with a consensus analyst price target of $8.00 and a 52-week trading range of $4.00 to $46.70.