Kidney is the new liver: why kidney indications are coming into sharp focus

Interest in kidney diseases is mounting among investors, biotechs and pharmas at a rate reminiscent of the liver disease explosion almost a decade ago. The momentum is driven by improvements at both ends of the drug development spectrum -- regulatory acceptance of new endpoints that can shorten trial times, and new targets yielded from progress in unraveling the disease biology.

Over the past five years, at least five new companies were formed to exclusively treat kidney diseases, and countless others have added renal disease programs to their pipelines...