On May 8, 2025 Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKBA), a biopharmaceutical company with the purpose to better the lives of people impacted by kidney disease, reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025 and recent business highlights (Press release, Akebia, MAY 8, 2025, View Source [SID1234652719]).

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"We are tremendously encouraged by the early progress of the Vafseo (vadadustat) launch, having generated $12.0 million in net product revenues in the first quarter. We believe the early success reflects the excitement among physicians of having an alternative treatment for anemia available for their dialysis patients," said John P. Butler, Chief Executive Officer of Akebia. "We believe the introduction of Vafseo is one of the strongest drug launches into the dialysis market in many years, certainly since the adoption of transitional drug add-on payment adjustment (TDAPA) reimbursement, and we continue to believe that Vafseo could be a new standard of care for the treatment of anemia due to chronic kidney disease (CKD). Initial usage as expected is in the small and mid-sized dialysis providers and we look forward to continuing to drive adoption across all dialysis providers, large and small."

Vafseo U.S. Commercial Updates:
•Vafseo net product revenue in Q1 2025 totaled $12.0 million.
•Through the end of March, more than 640 prescribers wrote a prescription for Vafseo and each prescriber, on average, had written nearly 12 prescriptions. About 1/3 of all prescriptions written were refills and refill data demonstrate an increase in average dose per patient.
•Through the end of April, the top five dialysis organizations placed Vafseo orders, though most revenue continues to be driven by mid-sized dialysis organizations.
•Akebia estimates that it has at least 12 months of Vafseo inventory on hand in the U.S. free of potential incremental tariff payments based on its current operating plan.
Additional Key Business Highlights:
•In March, completed an underwritten public offering of 25 million shares priced at $2.00 per share, raising gross proceeds of $50 million.
•U.S. Renal Care continues enrollment in VOICE, a collaborative clinical trial of Vafseo designed to assess mortality and hospitalization in patients treated with Vafseo compared to current standard of care. Enrollment is now at 75% of the planned trial enrollment of approximately 2,200 patients.
•Plan to initiate a Phase 3 clinical trial (VALOR) to study the use of vadadustat for treating anemia in late-stage CKD patients who are not on dialysis. Expect the VALOR clinical trial to begin in the second half of 2025.
•In January, Vafseo was recommended for symptomatic anemia in adults undergoing dialysis for CKD by the United Kingdom (U.K.) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), a distinction especially relevant for practitioners and commissioners making care choices for patients in the U.K. and of interest globally. Akebia’s partner Medice launched Vafseo in the U.K.
•Auryxia (ferric citrate) net product revenue in Q1 2025 totaled $43.8 million. In January 2025, phosphate binders, including Auryxia, were added to the bundled payment for dialysis services and qualified for TDAPA, providing an additional payment for each service in which Auryxia is used. Loss of Auryxia market exclusivity occurred on March 20, 2025. To date, no Abbreviated New Drug Application has been approved for Auryxia, and there is only one authorized generic for Auryxia.
•In April, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency adopted a positive opinion recommending the European Commission to approve XOANACYL (Ferric Citrate as Coordination Complex) for the treatment of concomitant elevated serum phosphorous and iron deficiency in adult patients with CKD.
Financial Results
•Revenues: Total revenues were $57.3 million in the first quarter of 2025 as compared to $32.6 million in the first quarter of 2024, driven by initial sales of Vafseo in the U.S. and an increase in sales of Auryxia.

▪Vafseo net product revenues were $12.0 million in the first quarter of 2025. Vafseo was launched into the U.S. market in the first quarter of 2025.
▪Auryxia net product revenues were $43.8 million in the first quarter of 2025 as compared to $31.0 million in the first quarter of 2024.
▪License, collaboration and other revenues were $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2025 as compared to $1.6 million in the first quarter of 2024.

•Cost of Goods Sold: Cost of goods sold was $7.6 million in the first quarter of 2025 as compared to $11.6 million in the first quarter of 2024. A key driver of this decrease was the fact that Akebia carried a non-cash intangible amortization charge of $9.0 million per quarter through the fourth quarter of 2024. Of note, Vafseo-related cost of goods sold is derived from pre-launch inventory which does not include the full cost of manufacturing, as a portion of those inventory-related costs were recorded as R&D expenses in the period incurred prior to Vafseo’s approval in the U.S. Also, during the first quarter of 2024, Akebia realized a $3.7 million benefit due to its ability to sell Auryxia inventory previously written down as excess inventory.

•Research & Development Expenses: Research and development expenses were $9.8 million in the first quarter of 2025 as compared to $9.7 million in the first quarter of 2024.

•Selling, General & Administrative Expenses: Selling, general and administrative expenses were $25.7 million in the first quarter of 2025 as compared to $25.4 million in the first quarter of 2024.

•Net Income (Loss): Net income was $6.1 million in the first quarter of 2025 compared to a net loss of $18.0 million in the first quarter of 2024. Net income in the first quarter of 2025 was driven by the increase in net product revenues, including the introduction of Vafseo sales in the U.S., which was partially offset by $5.4 million in interest expense related to the settlement royalty liability in connection with the July 2024 Vifor Termination and Settlement Agreement.

•Cash Position: Cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2025 were approximately $113.4 million compared to $51.9 million at December 31, 2024, which includes $46.5 million in net proceeds raised from an underwritten public offering of common stock completed in March. Akebia believes that it is financed to achieve profitability based on its current operating plan, which includes pursuing label expansion for Vafseo and advancing other existing programs.

Conference Call

Akebia will host a conference call on Thursday, May 8 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss first quarter 2025 earnings. To access the call, please register by clicking on this Registration Link, and you will be provided with dial in details. To avoid delays and ensure timely connection, we encourage dialing into the conference call 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled start time.

A live webcast of the conference call will be available via the "Investors" section of Akebia’s website at: View Source/." target="_blank" title="View Source/." rel="nofollow">View Source An online archive of the webcast can be accessed via the Investors section of Akebia’s website at View Source approximately two hours after the event.