CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKBA), a biopharmaceutical company focused on delivering innovative therapies to patients with kidney disease through the biology of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), today announced that John P. Butler, President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at the 19^th Annual BIO CEO & Investor Conference on Monday, February 13, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The conference is being held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

A live audio webcast of the presentation will be available on the company's website at http://ir.akebia.com/events.cfm. Archived presentations will be available for 90 days.

The company also announced that on January 31, 2017, the company granted two newly-hired employees options to purchase an aggregate of 22,500 shares of the company's common stock with a per share exercise price of $10.03, the closing price on the grant date. These options will vest as to 25% of the total number of shares subject to the option on the first anniversary of the grant date. The remaining 75% of shares will vest ratably on the first day of each calendar quarter over the next three years. The stock options were inducements material to these new employees entering into employment with the company, and issued in reliance on NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).

About Akebia Therapeutics
Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, focused on delivering innovative therapies to patients with kidney disease through hypoxia-inducible factor biology. Akebia's lead product candidate, vadadustat, is an investigational oral therapy in development for the treatment of anemia related to chronic kidney disease in both non-dialysis and dialysis patients. Akebia's global Phase 3 program for vadadustat, which includes the PRO₂TECT studies for non-dialysis patients with anemia secondary to chronic kidney disease and the INNO₂VATE studies for dialysis-dependent patients, is currently ongoing. For more information, please visit our website at www.akebia.com.

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Akebia:
AJ Gosselin, 617-844-6130
Manager, Corporate Communications
agosselin@akebia.com

Source: Akebia Therapeutics, Inc.

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