Board of Directors

Ray Prudo, M.D., has been an active investor and developer of healthcare companies for 25 years. Dr. Prudo was the Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Volution and its predecessor company, Varleigh Immuno Pharmaceuticals, since inception in 2008, joining Akari in September 2015 during the Volution/Celsus merger. He is currently a board member of several UK healthcare companies. Dr. Prudo holds an MBBS from the University of London, and an FRCP(C) from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

After pursuing post-graduate studies in General Medicine and research in neuro-pharmacology at The Royal Post-Graduate Medical School Dr. Ungar was in practice as a General Physician at The Princess Grace Hospital. Jointly with Dr. Raymond Prudo, Dr. Ungar founded The Doctors Laboratory PLC, a general pathology laboratory, that provided analytical services to clinicians and pharmaceutical organizations throughout the United Kingdom and abroad. During his tenure as Chairman and a Board Director The Doctors Laboratory PLC grew substantially and was sold to Sonic Healthcare in 2002. Dr. Ungar qualified in medicine with additional qualifications in medical biochemistry at the Royal Free Hospital, London and was admitted as a member to The Royal College of Physicians. Dr. Ungar is a Life Fellow of The Royal Society of Medicine and is a founder and former Vice-President of The Independent Doctors Federation.

Prior to joining Akari’s Board of Directors, Dr. Hill was a non-executive director and Chairman of Genetix Group Plc from 2001 to 2009, an AIM listed company providing scientists with intelligent solutions for cell imaging and analysis. Previously Dr. Hill was a director and Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs with SmithKline Beecham from 1994 to 2001, with global responsibility for Investor Relations, Government Affairs, Communication, and was a member of the corporate management team which oversaw corporate strategy. Dr. Hill’s prior experience was in the field of strategic product development, working closely with research and development and the global markets. Dr. Hill qualified in medicine at Guys Hospital and became a fellow to The Royal Colleges of Physicians in both London and Edinburgh, and was earlier awarded a Hunterian Professorship by The Royal College of Surgeons in England.

Mr. Byrne is currently Group Chief Executive Officer of Sonic Healthcare UK Group, the United Kingdom’s largest NGO clinical diagnostics organization, a position that he has held since 1997. Mr. Byrne also currently serves as a Main Board Director for CIS Healthcare Limited and served as a Main Board Finance Director for Clinisys Solutions Ltd from 2000 to 2007.

Mr. Williams is a 35-year veteran of the public accounting industry who retired in 2014. Mr. Williams spent 18 years as a partner at Ernst & Young and the last seven years as a partner at Grant Thornton. Mr. Williams’ career focused on private and public companies in the technology and life sciences sectors. During the last seven years at Grant Thornton, he served as the National Leader of Grant Thornton’s Life Sciences Practice and the Managing Partner of the San Diego Office. He was the lead partner for both Ernst & Young and Grant Thornton on multiple initial public offerings, secondary offerings, private and public debt financings, as well as numerous mergers and acquisitions. Beginning in 2014, Mr. Williams has served as a director of Marina Biotech, Inc. Beginning in 2015, he has served as a director of Proove Biosciences, Inc. and Alphatec Holdings, Inc. (and its wholly-owned operating subsidiary, Alphatec Spine, Inc.). From 2001 to 2014, Mr. Williams served on the Board of Directors and is past President and Chairman of the San Diego Venture Group and has served on the Board of Directors of various charitable organizations in the communities in which he has lived. Mr. Williams is a graduate of Southern Illinois University with a B.S. degree.

Mr. Ward has served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Radius Health, Inc., a NASDAQ listed biopharmaceutical company, since December 2013. During his tenure, Radius Health completed late stage development of its lead compound and filed the first global regulatory new drug applications, successfully raised over $750 million in private and public financings – including an initial public offering in 2014 – and advanced other novel compounds/drug delivery technologies in clinical development. Prior to leading Radius, Mr. Ward was Vice President for Strategy and External Alliances for AstraZeneca (AZ).

Clive Richardson was Head of Operations for Volution, and joined Akari in September 2015 during the Volution/Celsus merger. Prior to his role at Volution, Mr. Richardson served as consultant to Varleigh Immuno Pharmaceuticals since its inception in 2008. Prior to working for Volution and Varleigh, Mr. Richardson served as a member of the board of directors for a range of international healthcare companies, including CIS Healthcare Ltd. and Clinisys Ltd. Mr. Richardson was formerly Head of Equities Research for Investec Bank, and worked as a strategy consultant for L.E.K. Consulting. Mr Richardson holds an M.A. in Zoology from Trinity College, Oxford University.

Michael Grissinger spent 22 years at Johnson & Johnson, holding positions of Vice President and Head, Worldwide Pharmaceutical Licensing as well as Vice President and Head of Worldwide Pharmaceutical Corporate Development and M&A. He has led transactions and teams across a broad span of deal-types, geographies, and therapeutic disease areas. Mr. Grissinger brings to Akari Therapeutics extensive experience in business and corporate development, finance, marketing and strategic planning in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, Mr. Grissinger spent 20 years in the healthcare industry with Ciba-Geigy and SmithKline Beckman.  Mr. Grissinger holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Juniata College and an M.B.A. from Temple University-Fox School of Business.

Dr. Peter Feldschreiber is dually qualified as a physician and barrister with extensive experience both in the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare law.  He has over 20 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry including 10 years as European Medical Director at Proctor and Gamble Limited, and he has held appointments as Senior Medical Assessor and Special Litigation Coordinator to the Commission on Human Medicines, a U.K. government advisory body, as well as the Committee on Safety of Devices, Medicines, and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, part of the U.K. government’s Department of Health. Dr. Feldschreiber is General Editor of the Law and Regulation of Medicines (Oxford University Press). Dr. Feldschreiber holds a B.Sc. MB.BS from Kings College Hospital Medical School, University of London, is a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine Royal College of Physicians and holds an LLB Hons. from Thames Valley University.