Samir R. Patel, M.D., Chief Executive Officer
Samir R. Patel, M.D., has served as CEO since December of 2024, but has worked with Akari as interim CEO since May of that year.
Dr. Patel is founder and principal of PranaBio Investments, LLC, a firm providing consulting, strategic advisory, and investment services for small cap biotechnology companies. He is also a consultant to GE Global Research, GE’s innovation engine that is creating novel products and solutions across several sectors including biomanufacturing and biotechnology.
Dr. Patel has more than 20 years of experience in life sciences including co-founding Digital Therapeutics, LLC, a startup advancing a therapy for scleroderma and other rheumatic diseases, and SPEC Pharma, LLC, a company that develops and manufactures injectables used in rheumatology applications. Previously, he held multiple roles in Medical Affairs with Centocor, Inc. (now Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, part of Johnson & Johnson). Dr. Patel has also served on the boards of several public companies, including Rezolute Bio. He holds multiple patents, has been an author on several publications and has been an investigator in numerous clinical research studies.
Dr. Patel received his medical degree from the Medical College of Ohio (University of Toledo) in Toledo, Ohio, and completed his completed his internal medicine internship, residency, and rheumatology fellowship at The University of New Mexico School of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals.
Dr. Miles Nunn, Chief Scientific Officer
Miles Nunn discovered nomacopan and has been Chief Scientific Officer of Akari since April 2014. Previously, he worked at the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for 16 years. He discovered Volution’s lead drug, nomacopan (formerly Coversin), and is an inventor on several other patents. Dr. Nunn was formerly the Scientific Research Manager for Evolutec Group Plc, Director of Amplion Ltd., and a Principal Investigator for the Natural Environment Research Council.
His scientific interests center on the structural and functional interactions between parasite-derived molecules and host defense responses, in particular complement, and on exploitation of the associated information and parasite molecules for drug development. Dr. Nunn holds a D.Phil. from Oxford University, and M.Sc. from University College London.
Contact: [email protected]
Torsten Hombeck, Ph.D., Chief Financial Officer
Dr. Hombeck is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience in the biotechnology industry, finance, capital markets and M&A transactions, as well as clinical and commercial product development and regulatory filings in the U.S. and Europe. Prior to joining Akari, Dr. Hombeck served as the CFO, Corporate Secretary and SVP at Aspira Women’s Health, Inc., a Nasdaq listed commercial-stage diagnostics company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel diagnostic tools that improve gynecologic health outcomes. Prior to that, Dr. Hombeck served as the CFO of Akari Therapeutics from 2019-June 2023 where he raised over $50 million during his tenure. Additionally, his previous positions include Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer and Managing Director at Promethera Biosciences, and Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Business Officer at Cytonet where he played an integral role in its acquisition by Promethera. Dr. Hombeck also served as Chief Financial Officer at both Agennix and GPC Biotech. Dr. Hombeck holds a Masters in Business Administration and a Ph.D. in Finance from the EBS University of Business and Law, Ostrich-Winkel.
