James Neal

About James Neal

James Neal (age 69) is an independent director of Akari Therapeutics, Plc (AKTX) since November 2024 following the Peak Bio merger; he serves as Chair of the Compensation Committee and member of the Audit Committee . Neal is CEO and Chairman of XOMA Corporation (since 2009) and brings 25+ years of experience in biopharma commercialization and partnerships; education includes B.S. Biology (University of Manitoba), M.S. Genetics & Plant Breeding (University of Manitoba), and Executive MBA (Washington University in St. Louis) .

Past Roles

External Roles

Board Governance

• Committee assignments: Chair, Compensation Committee; Member, Audit Committee .
• Independence: Board determined Neal is independent under Nasdaq rules; audit and compensation members meet Rule 10A-3/10C-1 criteria .
• Attendance: Board and committees held four meetings in 2024; all directors attended at least 75% of Board and applicable committees .
• Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee composition and independence (context for overall board governance): Bazemore (Chair), Huh, Prudo; committee held four meetings in 2024; all independent .

Fixed Compensation

Notes:

• The table reflects reported board fees; timing and partial-year service drove 2024 figure .
• Meeting fees and chair premiums not separately disclosed for Neal .

Performance Compensation

Performance metrics tied to compensation:

• None disclosed for director equity awards; time-based vesting only (no TSR/EBITDA/ESG targets specified) .

Other Directorships & Interlocks

Expertise & Qualifications

• Biopharma partnerships and commercialization: Led multi-year collaborations with BMS, Abbott, Eli Lilly, FDA (Iconix) .
• Executive and board leadership: CEO/Chairman (XOMA), prior executive roles (Entelos, Incyte), broad industry experience .
• Education: B.S. Biology; M.S. Genetics & Plant Breeding (University of Manitoba); Executive MBA (Washington University in St. Louis) .

Equity Ownership

Additional alignment indicators:

• Vested vs. unvested: As of Oct 31, 2025, 518.5M options and 37.4M warrants are exercisable within 60 days, indicating vested/exercisable status .
• Pledging/hedging: No pledging of shares or hedging disclosed for Neal .
• Ownership guidelines: Not disclosed for directors .

Governance Assessment

• Strengths:

  • Independence affirmed; serves as Compensation Chair and Audit member, supporting board effectiveness and oversight .
  • Active engagement: All directors met ≥75% attendance; committees held regular meetings (four each in 2024) .
  • Alignment: Meaningful option holdings and time-based equity provide some “skin in the game,” with 597.1M ordinary shares beneficially owned as of Oct 31, 2025 (<1% of outstanding) .

• Considerations / RED FLAGS:

  • Large director option grants pending shareholder approval: A one-time grant of 225,000 ADS options to each listed director (aggregate 4.2% of current issued share capital), including to Neal while he chairs the Compensation Committee, may raise perceived self-dealing risk despite shareholder vote and plan constraints .
  • Dilution risk: Expanded authority to allot shares and disapply pre-emption rights (2025 AGM/general meetings) increases financing flexibility but can dilute existing holders; oversight remains critical .
  • No disclosed performance metrics for director equity (time-based vesting), reducing pay-for-performance linkage for directors compared to performance-conditioned awards .

• Related-party and conflicts controls:

  • AKTX maintains a policy to avoid related-party transactions; audit committee (independent) reviews and must approve such transactions; directors must disclose conflicts and recuse; no Neal-specific related-party transactions are disclosed .

Appendix: Committee and Attendance Snapshot (FY 2024)

All directors attended at least 75% of Board and applicable committee meetings during 2024 .