FDA Agrees to Use of New Higher-Yielding Manufacturing Process for Nomacopan in Pivotal Clinical Studies
Akari Therapeutics announced the FDA's approval of a new manufacturing process for its lead drug candidate, nomacopan, enhancing yield by at least 5-fold. This advancement significantly reduces the cost of goods for ongoing clinical studies and future commercialization. Nomacopan is currently in two Phase III clinical programs targeting conditions like bullous pemphigoid and thrombotic microangiopathy. This milestone marks a pivotal step towards bringing nomacopan to market, following years of development and collaboration with manufacturing partners.
- FDA approval for new manufacturing process of nomacopan improves yield by at least 5-fold.
- Cost reduction for clinical studies and commercialization enhances financial outlook.
- Nomacopan is involved in two Phase III trials, indicating robust development progress.
- None.
New manufacturing process increases the final yield of nomacopan by at least 5-fold thereby significantly lowering the cost of goods for clinical studies and commercialization
NEW YORK and LONDON, Jan. 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Akari Therapeutics, Plc (Nasdaq: AKTX), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on innovative therapeutics to treat orphan autoimmune and inflammatory diseases where complement (C5) and/or leukotriene (LTB4) systems are implicated, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed, via a Type C meeting, to the clinical use of nomacopan derived from a next generation manufacturing process. Nomacopan is Akari’s lead drug candidate currently in two Phase III programs.
The FDA agreed that the new manufacturing process produces drug that is comparable to nomacopan from the prior manufacturing process. The new manufacturing process increases the final yield of nomacopan at least 5-fold, compared to the previous manufacturing process, which will significantly decrease future commercial cost of goods and reduce the cost of ongoing Phase II/III and future clinical development programs for nomacopan.
“FDA’s agreement for our use of the new and enhanced manufacturing process is a key milestone in the pathway to commercialization of nomacopan,” said Miles Nunn, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Akari Therapeutics. “The FDA’s agreement is the culmination of several years’ work, and I would like to thank Akari’s Head of CMC, Mukesh Sehdev, and our long-term partners in the manufacture of nomacopan, Wacker Biotechnology GmbH and Solvias AG, for their strategic planning, commitment and the quality of their work.”
About Akari Therapeutics
Akari is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing inhibitors of acute and chronic inflammation, specifically for the treatment of rare and orphan diseases, in particular those where the complement (C5) or leukotriene (LTB4) systems, or both complement and leukotrienes together, play a primary role in disease progression. Akari's lead drug candidate, Nomacopan (formerly known as Coversin), is a C5 complement inhibitor that also independently and specifically inhibits leukotriene B4 (LTB4) activity. Nomacopan is currently being clinically evaluated in four areas: bullous pemphigoid (BP), thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA), as well as programs in the eye and lung.
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: needs for additional capital to fund our operations, our ability to continue as a going concern; uncertainties of cash flows and inability to meet working capital needs; an inability or delay in obtaining required regulatory approvals for Nomacopan and any other product candidates, which may result in unexpected cost expenditures; our ability to obtain orphan drug designation in additional indications; risks inherent in drug development in general; uncertainties in obtaining successful clinical results for Nomacopan and any other product candidates and unexpected costs that may result therefrom; difficulties enrolling patients in our clinical trials; our ability to enter into collaborative, licensing, and other commercial relationships and on terms commercially reasonable to us; failure to realize any value of Nomacopan 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 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (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 Nomacopan may not be as large as expected; risks associated with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; 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; unexpected cost increases and pricing pressures and risks and other risk factors detailed in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. 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.
For more information
Investor Contact
Peter Vozzo
ICR Westwicke
(443) 213-0505
peter.vozzo@westwicke.com
Media Contact
Sukaina Virji / Maya Bennison
Consilium Strategic Communications
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Akari@consilium-comms.com
FAQ
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