- Akebia Therapeutics (AKBA +2%) prevails in its vadadustat-related patent fight in Europe by virtue of the total revocation of competitor FibroGen's (FGEN -2.2%) European patent EP 1 463 823 ('823) by the European Patent Office's (EPO) Opposition Division (OD). In an oral session, the OD ruled that the '823 patent did not meet the requirements for patentability under the European Patent Convention. A written decision should be issued within the next several months.
- The company filed its opposition to the '823 patent in December 2013 after the EPO granted the patent in June 2013.
-
Vadadustat (AKB-6548), under initial development for the treatment of anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease, is an inhibitor of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-prolyl hydroxylase (PH), an enzyme that promotes the breakdown of HIF proteins. HIF is the primary regulator of the production of red blood cells. The body's natural response to anemia is to increase the level of HIF proteins.
- FibroGen's HIF-PH inhibitor is a similar compound called roxadustat.