Nature of Organization and Operations	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2015
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 delivering innovative therapies to patients with kidney disease through the biology of hypoxia-inducible factor, or HIF. 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, vadadustat, formerly known as AKB-6548, is being developed as a once-daily oral therapy and has successfully completed Phase 2 development demonstrating that vadadustat can safely and predictably raise hemoglobin levels in patients with anemia related to chronic kidney disease. 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 its proprietary technology. If the Company does not successfully commercialize any of its products, it will be unable to generate product revenue or achieve profitability. On March 25, 2014, the Company completed its initial public offering, or IPO, whereby the Company sold 6,762,000 shares of common stock, including 879,647 shares of common stock pursuant to the full exercise of an over-allotment option granted to the underwriters in connection with the offering, at a price of $17.00 per share. The shares began trading on the NASDAQ Global Market on March 20, 2014. The aggregate net proceeds received by the Company from the offering were $104.4 million, net of underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company. Upon the closing of the IPO, all outstanding shares of convertible redeemable preferred stock converted into 12,115,183 shares of common stock. Additionally, the Company is now authorized to issue up to 175,000,000 shares of common stock and 25,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock. In April 2015, the Company completed a follow-on public offering whereby the Company sold 8,363,636 shares of common stock, including 1,090,909 share of common stock pursuant to the full exercise of an over-allotment granted to the underwriters in connection with the offering, at a price of $8.25 per share. The aggregate net proceeds received by the Company from the offering were approximately $64.6 million, net of underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company. In August 2015, the Company entered into a Sales Agreement with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. to periodically sell up to $50 million of shares of the Company’s common stock in “at-the-market” (ATM) offerings. During the third quarter of 2015, the Company sold 1,311,562 shares of common stock pursuant to the Sales Agreement. The aggregate net proceeds received by the Company were approximately $14.2 million, net of commissions. The Company believes that it can continue as a going concern as its cash resources of approximately $157.5 million at September 30, 2015 will be sufficient to allow the Company to fund its current operating plan through at least the next twelve months. There can be no assurance, however, that the current operating plan will be achieved in the timeframe anticipated by the Company, or that its cash resources will fund the Company’s operating plan for the period anticipated by the Company or that additional funding will be available on terms acceptable to the Company, or at all. Unless otherwise indicated, all information in these condensed consolidated 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 6), 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.

1. Nature of Organization and Operations

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (Akebia, or the Company) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on delivering innovative therapies to patients with kidney disease through the biology of hypoxia-inducible factor, or HIF. 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, vadadustat, formerly known as AKB-6548, is being developed as a once-daily oral therapy and has successfully completed Phase 2 development demonstrating that vadadustat can safely and predictably raise hemoglobin levels in patients with anemia related to chronic kidney disease.

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 its proprietary technology. If the Company does not successfully commercialize any of its products, it will be unable to generate product revenue or achieve profitability.

On March 25, 2014, the Company completed its initial public offering, or IPO, whereby the Company sold 6,762,000 shares of common stock, including 879,647 shares of common stock pursuant to the full exercise of an over-allotment option granted to the underwriters in connection with the offering, at a price of $17.00 per share. The shares began trading on the NASDAQ Global Market on March 20, 2014. The aggregate net proceeds received by the Company from the offering were $104.4 million, net of underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company. Upon the closing of the IPO, all outstanding shares of convertible redeemable preferred stock converted into 12,115,183 shares of common stock. Additionally, the Company is now authorized to issue up to 175,000,000 shares of common stock and 25,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock.

In April 2015, the Company completed a follow-on public offering whereby the Company sold 8,363,636 shares of common stock, including 1,090,909 share of common stock pursuant to the full exercise of an over-allotment granted to the underwriters in connection with the offering, at a price of $8.25 per share. The aggregate net proceeds received by the Company from the offering were approximately $64.6 million, net of underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company.

In August 2015, the Company entered into a Sales Agreement with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. to periodically sell up to $50 million of shares of the Company’s common stock in “at-the-market” (ATM) offerings. During the third quarter of 2015, the Company sold 1,311,562 shares of common stock pursuant to the Sales Agreement. The aggregate net proceeds received by the Company were approximately $14.2 million, net of commissions.

The Company believes that it can continue as a going concern as its cash resources of approximately $157.5 million at September 30, 2015 will be sufficient to allow the Company to fund its current operating plan through at least the next twelve months. There can be no assurance, however, that the current operating plan will be achieved in the timeframe anticipated by the Company, or that its cash resources will fund the Company’s operating plan for the period anticipated by the Company or that additional funding will be available on terms acceptable to the Company, or at all.

Unless otherwise indicated, all information in these condensed consolidated 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 6), 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.