Akebia Therapeutics Announces Proposed Public Offering of Common Stock

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:AKBA) today announced that it intends to offer to sell $60 million of shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. As part of this offering, Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $9 million of shares of its common stock.

UBS Investment Bank and Morgan Stanley are acting as joint book-running managers of the offering. JMP Securities is acting as lead manager, and Needham & Company and Brean Capital are acting as co-managers.

All shares being offered are to be sold by Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. The company is planning to use the net proceeds from the offering to continue clinical development of AKB-6548 in patients with anemia secondary to chronic kidney disease, including the preparation for and initiation of Phase 3 trials, to advance its preclinical candidate, AKB-6899, through Phase 1 development in oncology, and to increase working capital, as well as for other general corporate purposes.

The securities described above are being offered by Akebia Therapeutics pursuant to its Registration Statement on Form S-3 previously filed and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities in the offering, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. The offering may be made only by means of the preliminary prospectus supplement and the prospectus relating to the proposed offering, copies of which may be obtained, when available, from UBS Securities LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 1285 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019, or by telephone at (888) 827-7275, or Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC Attention: Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10014.

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. Akebia's lead product candidate, AKB-6548, is a once-daily, oral therapy, which has completed a Phase 2b study for the treatment of anemia related to chronic kidney disease in non-dialysis patients and is also being tested in a Phase 2 study for the treatment of anemia in patients undergoing dialysis.

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 development plan for AKB-6548 and AKB-6899, and the completion, timing and size of the proposed offering of Akebia’s common stock. 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 AKB-6548 and AKB-6899; the funding required to develop Akebia's product candidates and operate the company, and the actual expenses associated therewith; 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; Akebia's ability to obtain, maintain and enforce patent and other intellectual property protection for its product candidates; and the risks associated with market conditions and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions related to the proposed offering. Other risks and uncertainties include those identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in Akebia's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 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.