CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA), a biopharmaceutical company focused on harnessing the potential of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) biology to develop and commercialize novel therapeutics to treat kidney disease and other serious diseases, today announced that it was added to the Russell 3000^®,Russell 2000^®, and Russell Global Indexes when the Russell Investment Group reconstituted its family of U.S. indexes after the stock market close on June 27, 2014.

Annual reconstitution of Russell's U.S. indexes captures the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization. Membership in the Russell 3000^®, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the large-cap Russell 1000^® Index or small-cap Russell 2000^® Index as well as the appropriate growth and value style indexes. Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes. The Russell 3000^® also serves as the U.S. component to the Russell Global Index, which Russell launched in 2007.

Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. Approximately $5.2 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the Russell Indexes.

About Akebia Therapeutics

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, focused on harnessing the potential of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) biology to develop and commercialize novel, proprietary therapeutics to treat kidney disease and other serious diseases. Akebia's lead clinical compound, AKB-6548, is a once-daily, oral therapy currently in Phase 2b clinical development for the treatment of anemia related to chronic kidney disease, a serious medical condition that leads to increased morbidity and mortality if left untreated. For more information on Akebia, please visit www.akebia.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include those about Akebia's strategy, future plans and prospects. The words "anticipate," "appear," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "target," "potential," "will," "would," "could," "should," "continue," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Each forward-looking statement is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statement, including the risks and uncertainties identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in Akebia's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2014, and other filings that Akebia may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the future. Akebia does not undertake, and specifically disclaims, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

Investors:
Argot Partners, LLC
David Pitts, +1-212-600-1902
david@argotpartners.com
or
Susan Kim, +1-212-203-4433
susan@argotpartners.com
or
Media:
Feinstein Kean Healthcare
Liz Falcone, +1-617-761-6727
liz.falcone@fkhealth.com

Source: Akebia Therapeutics, Inc.

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