Akebia in up to $350 million deal with Mitsubishi Tanabe for vadadustat

USA-based Akebia Therapeutics (Nasdaq: AKBA) and Japan’s Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma (TSE:4508); MTPC) have entered into a development and commercialization agreement for vadadustat (formerly AKB-6548), an oral therapy for the treatment of anemia related to chronic kidney disease (CKD), in Japan and certain other countries in Asia.

Reacting to the news, Akebia's stock price rose 13% to $11 as of 1:30 pm on Monday, giving the company a market value of $337 million.

Under the terms of the accord, MTPC will make payments totaling $100 million for costs associated with the global Phase III program for vadadustat, including $40 million on signing. In addition, Akebia is eligible to receive up to approximately $250 million in additional milestone payments, based on achievement of certain development and sales milestones. MTPC will also make tiered royalty payments, from low teens up to 20%, on sales of vadadustat in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, India and other Asian countries. The deal is worth a potentions $350 million to the US firm.