A new investor interview spotlights the companies’ preclinical dual-payload work and Akari’s view that differentiated payload platforms are gaining strategic importance in next-generation ADC development.
Akari Therapeutics said a Virtual Investor interview featuring Chief Executive Officer Abizer Gaslightwala focused on the company’s recently announced strategic research collaboration with Whitehawk Therapeutics and the broader potential of its PH1 spliceosome-modulating payload platform in antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs. The collaboration centers on planned preclinical studies combining Akari’s proprietary PH1 RNA-splicing payload technology with Whitehawk’s topoisomerase I inhibitor, or TOP1i, ADC platform to assess dual-payload compatibility and synergy and generate data that could support future development opportunities. In the interview, Gaslightwala said the work is an important step in demonstrating PH1’s broader applicability and argued that growing industry interest in differentiated ADC payloads, alongside recent strategic transactions in the sector, points to rising value for novel payload innovation. Akari has said it will lead the design, execution and evaluation of the research. The company describes PH1 as a spliceosome modulator designed to disrupt RNA splicing in cancer cells, differing from traditional ADC payloads such as microtubule inhibitors and DNA-damaging agents. Its lead candidate, AKTX-101, targets the Trop2 receptor, and Akari has said it has initiated IND-enabling studies with a goal of starting a first-in-human trial by mid-2027. Akari is also developing AKTX-102, which targets CEACAM5. The interview also addressed the scientific rationale for combining differentiated ADC payload technologies and how dual-payload approaches may broaden therapeutic opportunities beyond conventional single-payload ADCs, while management said collaborations such as the Whitehawk tie-up further validate the PH1 platform across future oncology programs.