Akebia sells rights to anemia drug to Japan’s Otsuka

Drug developer Akebia Therapeutics Inc said on Tuesday it had signed a co-development and marketing deal worth up to $1 billion with Japan’s Otsuka Holdings Co Ltd. Akebia said the deal would give it the funds needed to develop vadadustat, its experimental drug to treat anemia associated with chronic kidney disease. Akebia’s shares were up 17.1 percent at $9.78 in early trading.