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Akebia And Keryx To Merge, Establishing Critical Mass In Renal Disease

 
• By Joseph Haas

Planned all-stock transaction would bring together Akebia’s R&D organization and Keryx’s commercial apparatus for Auryxia. That drug and Akebia’s Phase III vadadustat would create a complementary franchise, CEO Butler asserts.

John Butler of Akebia
Akebia CEO John Butler

In a transaction that “makes so much sense” according to CEO John Butler, two Boston-area biotechs focused on kidney disease – Butler’s clinical-stage Akebia Therapeutics Inc. and Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc. with struggling Auryxia already on the market – will merge in a deal they say will establish a leader in their market segment.

The two companies announced the planned all-stock merger June 28, a transaction expected to close by the end of 2018 that will leave Keryx shareholders owning 50.6% of the combined entity and Akebia shareholders 49.4%

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