Akebia Enters Agreement With US Renal Care for Vafseo Use

Akebia Therapeutics and dialysis provider US Renal Care (USRC) have entered a multi-year commercial supply contract to allow USRC’s attending physicians to prescribe Vafseo (vadadustat) for patients on dialysis as appropriate when it becomes available.

Vafseo received US Food and Drug Administration approval in March 2024 to treat anemia due to chronic kidney disease in adults who have been receiving dialysis for at least three months. Akebia expects to receive Transitional Drug Add-on Payment Adjustment designation for Vafseo in January 2025.

Vafseo is a once-daily oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor that activates the physiologic response to hypoxia to stimulate endogenous production of erythropoietin, increasing hemoglobin and red blood cell production to manage anemia. The drug is approved for use in 37 countries.