Nature of Organization and Operations

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2014

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Nature of Organization and Operations

1. Nature of Organization and Operations

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (Akebia, or the Company) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel proprietary therapeutics based on hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) biology and the commercialization of these products for patients with kidney disease. HIF is the primary regulator of the production of red blood cells in the body and a potentially novel mechanism of treating anemia. The Company’s lead product candidate, AKB-6548, is being developed as a once-daily oral therapy that has successfully completed a Phase 2a proof of concept study demonstrating that AKB-6548 can safely and predictably raise hemoglobin levels in patients with anemia secondary to chronic kidney disease (CKD) not requiring dialysis. AKB-6548 is currently being studied in a Phase 2b trial in patients with anemia secondary to CKD, who are not dependent on dialysis, with data expected in the fourth quarter of 2014.

The Company’s operations to date have been limited to organizing and staffing the Company, business planning, raising capital, acquiring and developing its technology, identifying potential product candidates and undertaking preclinical and clinical studies. The Company has not generated any product revenue to date, nor is there any assurance of any future product revenue. The Company’s product candidates are subject to long development cycles and there is no assurance the Company will be able to successfully develop, obtain regulatory approval for or market its product candidates.

The Company is subject to a number of risks including, but not limited to, the need to obtain adequate additional funding, possible failure of preclinical testing or clinical trials, the need to obtain marketing approval for its product candidates, the development of new technological innovations by competitors, the need to successfully commercialize and gain market acceptance of any of the Company’s products that are approved and the ability to protect our proprietary technology. If the Company does not successfully commercialize any of its products, it will be unable to generate product revenue or achieve profitability.

Unless otherwise indicated, all information in these financial statements gives retrospective effect to the 1.75-for-1 stock split of the Company’s common stock (the Stock Split) that was effected on March 6, 2014 (see Note 7), as well as any other stock-splits in historical periods.

The Company was incorporated on February 27, 2007 under the laws of the State of Delaware.