Lead program UKK-0018 for peanut allergy has received regulatory clearance in AU and NZ to begin clinical trials in 1H 2026

Expands leadership with appointment of Grace Chen-Philips, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer and Matt Ottmer as Chief Operating Officer

Completed $45 million Series C financing

Ukko, Inc., a biotechnology company re-inventing immunotherapy for allergic diseases, today announced a summary of 2025 operational achievements and provided a strategic outlook for 2026.

“2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for Ukko, and the broader allergy field, as we advance our lead program, UKK-0018, into clinical development,” said Uri Lopatin, M.D., CEO of Ukko. “Ukko’s approach has the potential to meaningfully change how we think about treating severe food allergies by re-engineering the structure and delivery of allergenic proteins to reduce risks inherent in traditional exposure-based approaches, while preserving immunogenic features required to re-educate the immune system.”

“Ukko’s proprietary platform, which combines computational protein design with RNA/LNP delivery, has the potential to address many of the limitations of current therapeutics for peanut allergy – such as safety and tolerability – while preserving or enhancing efficacy over the currently approved options for patients with peanut allergy. This technology represents a uniquely scalable and repeatable approach to immune-mediated disease beyond food allergy,” said Daniel Adelman, MD, Sr. Scientific Advisor for Ukko. “There remains a significant unmet need for the approximately 6.5 million people in the U.S. living with peanut allergy, as many face potentially life-threatening risks and suboptimal treatment options. We look forward to Ukko’s transition to a clinical-stage company in the first half of 2026, an important step toward bringing a potentially faster, safer and more precise solution to peanut allergy.”

Pipeline Updates - UKK-0018

• Ukko’s lead program, UKK-0018, delivers a payload of modified peanut antigens in a format designed to protect against peanut anaphylaxis while enhancing potentially protective immune responses.

• Preclinical results demonstrated that UKK-0018 was well tolerated and provided signifiant protection from severe allergic responses in animal models in the absence of adverse events.

• Ukko plans to initiate a Phase 1/2a study in peanut-allergic adult subjects in the 1H 2026 with initial data anticipated in early 2027. The trial will enroll approximately 32-40 subjects across 5-6 sites in Australia and New Zealand.

Corporate Updates

• Series C financing. Ukko completed a $45M series C financing led by Israel Biotech Fund, with participation from Khosla Ventures, Leaps by Bayer, Fall Line Capital, and Sanara Capital, among others. The financing is anticipated to support operations through 2027, including the planned Phase 1/2a trial of UKK-0018.

• Leadership expansion. Matt Ottmer was appointed Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Ottmer brings over 20 years of industry experience in business operations, product development, and commercialization across multiple therapeutic areas. Grace Chen-Philips, M.D. has joined as SVP Clinical and Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Chen-Philips is a physician-scientist contributing over 15 years of experience across translational discovery, biologics research, clinical trials ranging from phase 1 to pivotal phase 3 clinical trials, and commercialization.

About Ukko

Ukko is a biotechnology company dedicated to designing safe immunotherapies to rapidly treat allergies and other immune-mediated conditions. The Company’s proprietary technology platform integrates computational protein design to modify allergenic proteins with mRNA/LNP delivery. The combination aims to reduce or eliminate potentially dangerous allergic reactions, while inducing a protective immune response. Ukko’s lead program, UKK-0018, designed to protect patients at risk of peanut anaphylaxis, is expected to enter clinical development in the first half of 2026.

By rethinking how to prevent allergic reactions at the molecular level, the Company aims to provide a safer, more precise alternative to traditional desensitization methods, reducing treatment burden and addressing the significant unmet need of individuals at risk for life-threatening allergic reactions to peanut, with potential expansion opportunities into other major allergens, including milk, tree nuts, and respiratory triggers. Ukko is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and Rechovot, Israel. For more information, please visit www.ukko.us, or email info@ukko.us.

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“Ukko’s approach has the potential to meaningfully change how we think about treating severe food allergies by precisely re-engineering allergenic proteins at the molecular level to reduce risks inherent in traditional exposure-based approaches."