Akebia spins out newco Aerpio

Akebia Therapeutics Inc. (Cincinnati, Ohio) spun out Aerpio Therapeutics Inc. to focus on diabetic eye disease. The newco's lead compound is AKB-9778, a tyrosine kinase receptor 2 (Tie2) activator slated to start a Phase IIa trial to treat diabetic macular edema (DME) in 2Q12. Akebia, which will focus on anemia, retains AKB-6548, a once-daily, oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase ( HIF-PH; EGLN) inhibitor in Phase II testing to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). ...