Healthcare Industry News: dialysis
News Release - September 11, 2015
Akebia Therapeutics Announces Additions to its Management Team
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network)--Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (AKBA), a biopharmaceutical company focused on delivering innovative therapies to patients with kidney disease through the biology of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF), today announced three additions to its senior management team: Teresa Compton, PhD joined Akebia as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Ramin Farzaneh-Far, MD as Vice President of Medical Research, and Ed Joyce as Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications."Akebia is at a critical point in our growth as a company. With the successful completion of our Phase 2 program for vadadustat, we are focusing on the planning and execution of our global Phase 3 program. Additionally, we are building on our expertise in HIF biology and enhance our early stage pipeline. Finally, as the company grows in complexity we must continue to enhance our communication with shareholders. These latest additions to our management team will help enable the transition to this next stage of growth,” stated John P. Butler, President and Chief Executive Officer.
Teresa Compton, PhD, brings to Akebia a wealth of expertise and a deep background as a successful scientist. Most recently, Dr. Compton was Vice President and Head of Translational Sciences at Biogen Idec. Prior to that, Dr. Compton was Executive Director at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research. Additionally she spent 13 years on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine as Professor in the Oncology Department where she published over 75 research articles and was continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health during her academic tenure. Dr. Compton earned a PhD from the University of Tennessee in Cellular and Molecular Biology with postdoctoral research at New York University Medical Center and the Scripps Research Institute. She currently serves as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board at the Morgridge Institute of Research at the University of Wisconsin, the Chancellor’s Executive Council at the University of Tennessee, and the Scientific Advisory Board of Molecules to Medicine Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Compton will report to John P. Butler, President and Chief Executive Officer.
Ramin Farzaneh-Far, MD, joins Akebia with expertise in the design, implementation, and interpretation of multicenter cardiovascular outcomes trials. Most recently he served as Director, Cardiovascular Clinical Research at Gilead Sciences, Inc. in Foster City, CA. Previously Dr. Farzaneh-Far held academic faculty positions at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Dr. Farzaneh-Far completed his internal medicine residency at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, and trained in Cardiovascular Medicine at UCSF. He holds an MD from the University of London, an MAS in Clinical Research from UCSF, and both a BA and an MA from the University of Cambridge. Dr. Farzaneh-Far will report to Dr. Brad Maroni, Chief Medical Officer.
Ed Joyce comes to Akebia from Globus Medical (GMED), where he served as Director, Investor Relations and Business Development, responsible for all aspects of investor relations, and supported the business development group. Prior to that he was at Rogers Corporation (ROG) in similar capacities in investor relations and business development. The earlier part of Ed’s career included a spectrum of roles in operations, management and engineering for Unilever. Ed has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University and an MBA from the University of Connecticut. Mr. Joyce will report to John P. Butler, President and Chief Executive Officer.
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 HIF biology. The company has completed Phase 2 development of its lead product candidate, vadadustat, an oral therapy for the treatment of anemia related to CKD in both non-dialysis and dialysis patients.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include those about Akebia's strategy, future plans and prospects, including statements regarding the potential indications and benefits of vadadustat, the development plan for vadadustat, and Akebia’s plans to enhance its HIF capabilities and pipeline. 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 risk that existing preclinical and clinical data may not be predictive of the results of ongoing or later clinical trials; the ability of Akebia to successfully complete the clinical development of vadadustat; the funding required to build Akebia’s pipeline, develop Akebia's product candidates and operate the company, and the actual expenses associated therewith; the cost of our Phase 3 studies and the availability of financing to cover such cost; the timing and content of decisions made by the FDA and other regulatory authorities; the success of competitors in developing product candidates for diseases for which Akebia is currently developing its product candidates; and Akebia's ability to obtain, maintain and enforce patent and other intellectual property protection for vadadustat. Other risks and uncertainties include those identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in Akebia's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2015, 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.
Source: Akebia Therapeutics
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