A new company is forming to produce treatments for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Subject to antitrust considerations, the merger of Akebia Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA) and Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (Boston, MA) is expected to be complete by the end of the year. The new company will be called Akebia Therapeutics.
The merger is valued at $1.3 billion, notes Pitchbook, a financial newsletter. Under terms of the merger, Akebia shareholders will own a bit more than half of the combined firm, the website FierceBiotech reported.
The strategy behind the merger is severalfold. First, the merger establishes a renal company with an enhanced market position that neither company has alone. The combined company will open a larger marketplace, including Akebia’s product candidate, Vadadustat (for anemia treatment) and Keryx’s Auryxia, which is FDA approved for the control of serum phosphorus levels in adults with CKD who are on dialysis. According to a joint news release about the merger, the combined company will “provide nephrologists with a portfolio of renal products.” Vadadustat is up for FDA approval.
The merging companies said they will have the potential to help patients across all stages of CKD, including both those who need and those who don’t need dialysis, and could become a partner for the renal patient community as well as for companies developing renal products.
The merger will result in a new management team that has been developing and commercializing products for patients with kidney disease. John P. Butler, current CEO of Akebia, will lead as CEO. He formerly led Genzyme Corporation’s renal business.
Keryx will appoint the chairperson of the Board of Directors of the combined company.
The new company will have $453 million in cash plus the potential for increasing revenues from Auryxia sales and cost synergies expected to be in the neighborhood of more than $250 million, according to Keryx and Akebia.
