APLS 2018 Proxy Statement

6400 Westwind Way, Suite A, Crestwood, Kentucky 40014 (502) 241-4114 PROXY STATEMENT 2018 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS To Be Held on June 4, 2018 INFORMATION CONCERNING SOLICITATION AND VOTING This proxy statement contains information about the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or the Annual Meeting, to be held on Monday, June 4, 2018 at 11:00 a.m., Eastern time, at the offices of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP located at 60 State Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02109. The board of directors of Apellis is using this proxy statement to solicit proxies for use at the Annual Meeting. In this proxy statement, unless expressly stated otherwise or the context otherwise requires, references to “Apellis,” “the Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” and similar terms refer to Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. All properly submitted proxies will be voted in accordance with the instructions contained in those proxies. If no instructions are specified, the proxies will be voted in accordance with the recommendation of our board of directors with respect to each of the matters set forth in the accompanying Notice of Meeting. If you are a stockholder of record, you may change your vote or revoke your proxy at any time before it is exercised at the meeting by giving our Secretary written notice to that effect. Instead of mailing a paper copy of our proxy materials to all of our stockholders, we are providing access to our proxy materials over the Internet under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s “notice and access” rules. As a result, we are mailing to our stockholders a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, or Notice, instead of a paper copy of this proxy statement and our annual report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, or the 2017 Annual Report. We are sending the Notice on or about April 27, 2018, and it contains instructions on how to access those documents over the Internet. The Notice also contains instructions on how each of our stockholders can receive a paper copy of our proxy materials, including this proxy statement, our 2017 Annual Report, and a form of proxy card. Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be Held on June 4, 2018: This proxy statement and our 2017 Annual Report are available for viewing, printing and downloading at https://www.proxydocs.com/APLS. A copy of our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, except for exhibits, will be furnished without charge to any stockholder upon written request to Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 6400 Westwind Way, Suite A, Crestwood, Kentucky 40014. This proxy statement and our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 are also available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov . - 1 -