Annexon (NASDAQ:ANNX) held its 2026 annual meeting of stockholders on Thursday, with President and Chief Executive Officer Douglas Love outlining progress across the biotechnology company’s late-stage pipeline and shareholders approving all four proposals presented at the meeting.
Love said Annexon is entering “an exciting and defining new chapter” after what he described as decades of research into C1q and the classical complement pathway. He said the company’s two late-stage registrational programs are aimed at diseases affecting more than 10 million patients worldwide.
Pipeline Updates Focus on GBS, Geographic Atrophy and Autoimmune Disease
Love highlighted tanruprubart, Annexon’s program for Guillain-Barré Syndrome, or GBS, which he described as the leading cause of acute neuromuscular paralysis and a condition affecting nearly 150,000 people globally each year. He said tanruprubart delivered “unprecedented functional improvement in muscle strength and disability” in the company’s pivotal Phase III trial, adding that approximately 90% of tanruprubart-treated patients improved by week one of treatment.
Love said there are no FDA-approved therapies for GBS and “no substantial evidence of effectiveness from currently available treatments.” He said the company’s marketing authorization application for tanruprubart is under regulatory review in Europe, where it could become the first targeted therapy for GBS treatment. Enrollment is continuing in the company’s U.S. and European FORGE study, which Love said is intended to broaden experience across Western geographies and support a planned biologics license application submission in 2026.
The company also discussed vonaprument for geographic atrophy, which Love called a leading cause of blindness affecting more than 8 million patients globally. He said vonaprument showed “unprecedented neuronal and vision preservation” in a Phase II study. Annexon expects top-line pivotal data from its ongoing Phase III study by year-end, according to Love, who said the trial is designed to replicate the Phase II findings.
Love also pointed to ANX1502, which he described as a first-of-its-kind oral therapy being developed for antibody-mediated autoimmune conditions. He said no oral therapies are currently available for the 100,000 U.S. patients treated with biologics for these diseases. Annexon expects proof-of-concept data this year characterizing ANX1502’s pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, safety and tolerability profile.
Cash Runway Extends Into Second Half of 2027
Love said Annexon has cash runway into the second half of 2027, which he said funds the company through several expected catalysts. Those include potential approval of tanruprubart for GBS in Europe, a planned U.S. BLA submission for tanruprubart, proof-of-concept data for ANX1502 in chronic autoimmune disease and pivotal Phase III data for vonaprument in geographic atrophy.
Love thanked employees, stakeholders and patients for supporting the company’s progress over the past year. He also acknowledged Tom Wiggans, who is retiring from Annexon’s board of directors effective with the meeting, and thanked him for eight years of service.
Shareholders Approve Board Nominees and Governance Items
Jennifer Lew, Annexon’s chief financial officer and corporate secretary, said proxies had been received for 142,221,509 shares out of 162,507,278 shares of common stock outstanding as of the April 13 record date. That represented approximately 88% of outstanding shares and constituted a quorum.
Shareholders considered and approved four proposals during the meeting:
- The election of Bettina M. Cockroft, M.D., and Douglas E. Love, Esq., as Class III directors to serve until the 2029 annual meeting of stockholders or until their successors are elected and qualified.
- The ratification of KPMG LLP as Annexon’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2026.
- The approval, on a non-binding advisory basis, of the compensation of Annexon’s named executive officers.
- The approval of an amendment to the company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock from 300 million to 500 million.
Lew said the final voting results will be included in the Inspector of Election’s report as part of the meeting record. Annexon expects to report preliminary voting results, or final results if available, in a Form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission within four business days after the meeting.
About Annexon (NASDAQ:ANNX)
Annexon Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of complement-targeted therapies for patients with neurodegenerative and neuroimmune diseases. The company’s research platform centers on the inhibition of the C1 complex, a key initiator of the classical complement pathway implicated in several rare and life-threatening disorders. By selectively targeting upstream complement activation, Annexon aims to prevent the aberrant immune-mediated damage that characterizes conditions such as Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and autoimmune neuropathies.
At the core of Annexon’s pipeline is ANX005, a humanized monoclonal antibody directed against the C1q subcomponent, currently in Phase 2 clinical trials for acute GBS and chronic neurodegenerative indications.
